allafrica

Kenya is missing out on funds and environmental clean-up by not presenting strong proposals for support under a global deal aimed at pumping billions of shillings into 'green projects'.

The country is eligible to apply for help under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), one of the Kyoto Protocol tools aimed at reducing carbon emission by investing in environmentally friendly projects in developing nations.

Nonetheless, Kenya has shown signs of improvement, having 14 projects, up from only five last year and none in 2004.

A total of 112 green projects are at different stages in Africa, up from 74 in 2008 and just two in 2004.

But Africa's figures compare poorly to other beneficiary continents.

Only four per cent of the 4,730 CDM projects are in Africa, while Pacific Asia has over 3,700 and Latin America and the Caribbean have close to 820

This is the sorry state of affairs as Africa continues to bear one of the greatest environmental burdens from global pollution, with lakes disappearing, mountain icecaps melting and an increase in related disasters over the last four decades.

Carbon forum

The low level of project uptake in Africa is mainly due to the lack of concrete, viable proposals forwarded to UNEP and the World Bank, the approving and disbursing agents.

But the second all-Africa Carbon Forum, to be held in Nairobi next March will discuss ways Africa can participate and gain more from the Kyoto Protocol kitty.

Kenya has a huge market for carbon market projects, from the 7,000 megawatt-potential of geothermal power whose development is now expanding in Rift Valley to the emergence of big wind farms and the vast latent potential of solar.

One efficient and cheap way of fighting the carbon concentration in the atmosphere is by planting trees.

Already, some 2,000 farmers in Central Kenya are benefiting from the mechanism, selling carbon credits to the United States.

KenGen, the major power generator in Kenya, has entered into an agreement with the World Bank worth Sh1.3 billion to produce cleaner energy.

According to the institution's records, the carbon market has the potential to earn developing nations more than $25bn (Sh2 trillion) annually.

Trees remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere during photosynthesis to form carbohydrates that are used in plant structure/function, and return oxygen to the atmosphere as a by-product.

About half of the greenhouse effect is caused by CO2.

Trees, therefore, act as a carbon sink by storing it as cellulose in their trunk, branches, leaves and roots, while releasing oxygen back into the air.

Moves to actively reforest Kenya now include multiple tree planting campaigns, and the Government's directives on restoring water towers, including the Mau Forest, which has been a hot political debate.

Scientific evidence

The Kyoto Protocol is a treaty among 187 UN-member states meant to reduce global warming.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the structure that is responsible for implementing the protocol, aims to reduce harmful gases released by industries in the member states.

The objective of the Kyoto climate change conference was to establish a legally binding international agreement, where the participating nations commit to confronting the challenge.

The agreement came as a result of scientific evidence that showed industrial activities were severely depleting the ozone layer.