Bennie Vio walks slowly, a sharp machete resting on his shoulder, observing the growth of the crops he and his family planted in the last month. He’s been in the field for six hours, hacking away at unruly weeds encroaching on the crops. As rain begins to pour, he hurries to the farm kitchen.
50-year-old Mr. Vio works with his family every day in the field to cultivate rice, cassava and other farm produce. He knows no other way of making a living. But now, with news that the Liberian government plans to reserve the surrounding forest for the new global business known as “carbon credits” Mr. Vio fears for the future.
“Without the forest, life will be difficult,” he said. “The bush, it’s the only place we get food for our family. If we are told not to cut it, where will we farm? The family will be starving.”
Mr. Vio is one of the 1.5 million people in Liberia who live in its forested land, making up over a third of the country’s total population according to a 2023 Liberia Forest and Climate Resilience Forum report.
Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world, and its rural communities are among the most marginalized. These rural communities face many threats – from climate change, deforestation and environmental destruction – but now some experts warn a new threat is looming in the form of carbon credit trading.
Carbon credit trading is a system where countries and companies can buy and sell ‘credits’ to offset their emissions of carbon dioxide and other gasses emitted primarily by factories and transportation. Carbon dioxide is trapped in the atmosphere causing a “greenhouse effect” that pushes temperatures to rise.
That is having a knock on effect across the planet, causing sea levels to rise, weather and ocean ecosystems to change, threatening food and water supplies and the lives of millions of people every year.
Trees absorb carbon dioxide, so forests are one of the most important ways of fighting climate change. According to the World Bank, Liberia’s forests cover about 69 percent of the country’s total land surface as of 2019. Though the forests are rapidly being cut down for logging and charcoal production, the country still has enough forest cover to be attractive to carbon market investors.
The promise of the carbon credit system is that farmers like Mr. Vio will be compensated for preserving their trees while continuing to benefit from the food and resources they provide. The carbon these trees “capture” can then be sold as credits to companies looking to offset their emissions. But experts warn there is great risk that communities will be exploited, with companies pledging benefits but failing to deliver.
A small rice farm in Kpatawee, Photo credit: Ricardo Partida
Liberia began laying the groundwork for a carbon readiness framework in 2022, positioning the country’s vast forests as a valuable asset for the carbon market. But after two years of negotiation people here say they have been sidelined.
Rumors circulate about foreign companies being given rights to preserve the forests in exchange for carbon credits, but the clan says no one from the government has come to speak with them. This is causing anger.
No, you can’t decide for me,” Mr. Vio said. “I need to be part of decision making by sitting under a palaver hut and discussing what I will benefit. You can’t just sit in Monrovia and decide for us.’
This exclusion is not unique to Kpatawee. Across Liberia, rural communities that depend on forests for farming, hunting, and other livelihoods, say they are locked out of negotiations and are starting to fear the government’s ambition to profit from the carbon market opportunity will come at their expense, as it has so many times before.
The Carbon Market: Promise or Peril?
The concept of carbon markets stems from global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Following the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement signed at COP26, an international system was set up for companies to buy and sell carbon credits.
This would offset their emissions by investing in the preservation of forests and other carbon-absorbing ecosystems. On paper it seems like a win: countries like Liberia with its vast forests can attract foreign investment, and companies can mitigate their environmental impact.
“It’s clear that Liberia is capable of raising lots of money,” said Dr. Emmanuel Urey Yarkpawolo, executive director of Liberia’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “If we do the carbon market properly, it is capable of raising not less than $US80 million, perhaps annually.’’
The Liberian government’s annual budget is currently around $US800 million so windfalls of that size would represent a significant increase.
But critics say there are many flaws in this framework, from harming indigenous communities that depend on the forest for livelihood to “greenwashing” and letting wealthy companies get away with even more carbon production by logging at the same time as they are being paid to protect the trees.
While countries like Liberia may earn revenue from carbon credits, they could also be enabling the very practices that contribute to global warming.
According to James G. Otto, program coordinator at the Sustainable Development Institute, smaller countries like Liberia are being used by industrial nations to cover up for their continued pollution.
The argument that this is contributing toward the fight against climate change is not strong enough,” Mr. Otto said. “What they are saying is that we keep the forest and they keep polluting. They get the profit, we bear the brunt. That’s double standards.”
However, the EPA director says he is confident that Liberia will be ready to enter the carbon market within 1-2 years once the UN approves its plan. But he conceded that inhabitants of forest communities are correct that they have not yet been included in negotiations.
“They’re going to be involved heavily later,” Dr. Yarkpawolo said. “But right now it is [important] to get an institutional framework lined up.”
Community Exclusion and Growing Tensions
Without good information, communities are becoming tense. Unlike Bennie Vio who heard of the government’s plan through rumors, Mary Yokpo, a 52-year-old farmer in Kpatawee, had no idea of the ongoing discussions. Her first memory of farming dates back to her childhood. Now an older woman and mother of six, Madam Yokpo relies heavily on shifting cultivation.
“I usually make a rice farm and the year I don’t do that, I get involved with making a potato farm,” Madam Yokpo said. “We depend on that to send our children to school.”
When asked about plans for carbon credit marketing here she became alarmed. “If they’re planning anything like that they need to come and hear from us first to know how we feel about it.’’
Larwuson Tucker, chairman of the Kpatawee Citizens Committee, said nearly every resident in the area is engaged with sugar cane, rice, cassava or other forms of farming. He’s concerned that the failure of the government to include the residents in something that affects them so much will jeopardize the entire process.
“Oftentimes, leaders or government officials will speak for the downtrodden without consulting them,” Mr. Tucker said. “Because they are the minister, superintendent or the director so they take decisions on behalf of the people without telling them. So when it affects the people and the people talk about it, then they become [labeled] lawless people.’’
When people are not consulted and the decision is forced, they feel overlooked, Tucker said. That anger can then fuel resistance.
“We will protest and speak against it until we get the rightful education,” said Tucker. …. New Narrative via FrontPage Africa
