WORLD PARKS CONGRESS 2003
Durban to get $15m for clean air
12 September 2003
Durban municipality is to benefit from a US$15-million World Bank initiative as a "reward" for reducing methane and carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.
The incentive is part of the World Bank's Prototype Carbon Fund, established four years ago to assist developing countries implement the yet-to-be ratified Kyoto Protocol.
The Protocol commits countries to reduce gas emissions by a certain percentage, depending on the cap put on a particular country.
Chris Warner of the World Bank said the institution has an agreement with the municipality to "purchase" carbon emission reductions to enable the city to rid its environment of the gases that cause global warming.
The Fund will "pay" the municipality over a 10-year period for reducing methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The municipality will do this by capturing methane and put it into generators for electricity - an exercise said to be environmentally friendly and
cost-effective.
"This means we are going to purchase these reduced carbon emissions from Durban each year after a verification exercise has been conducted and monetary value attached to the process," Warner said.
The project will be led by a Durban company, Solid Waste, on behalf of the municipality, and an impact assessment study will be concluded in nine months. A consultant will be appointed shortly to start the assessment, Warner added.
The project is likely to be extended to other municipalities in the country.
Source: BuaNews
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