DILI, 21 february 2024 (TATOLI) – The Government of the Timor-Leste, through the National Designated Authority for Combating Climate Change (AND I.P.), in collaboration with the Secretary of State for Forestry (SoSF), and EU-Technical Assistance to Support Carbon Farming (EU-TASCF) in Timor-Leste, and Eco Securities organized the Carbon Farming Policy and Guideline Zero Draft Consultation dialogue.
The dialogue is important for the government and partners to produce a technical handbook on how to set up and implement carbon farming in Timor-Leste, aimed at encouraging tree farmers to start up carbon farming initiatives.
The dialogue on the Carbon Farming Policy and Guideline (CFPG) was facilitated by the Eco-securities who has over 25 years of international experience in climate finance and carbon markets with the support of Juridico-Social Consultoria.
The dialogue offered opportunities for stakeholders’ engagement in the CFPG Zero Draft consultation period, discussed key CFPG mechanisms, premises, and objectives, and allowed space for constructive interaction and feedback relating to the CFPG Zero Draft.
“At the end of the process we should have an agreed policy with simple rules that allow – the current operators to perform their outstanding work, the government to be able to contribute, promote, participate and communicate around carbon captured and traded in the country, newcomers to be able to perform coherently through a clear framework of operation, and the farmers to receive transparently benefits for their services to climate change adaptation and mitigation,” said EU Environment and Climate Change Manager, Severin Mellac at the Dialogue in JL Villa Hall, Dili.
“Let’s make this dialogue inclusive, open, and frank. Let’s make sure that it leads to an agreed policy that gives mainly the benefits to the Timorese.”
The Secretary of State for Forests, Fernandinho Vieira, said that the carbon farming policy should benefit local communities: “We must pay US$1.00 for every tree the farmers keep alive.”
The president of AND, I.P., Pedro Godinho da Costa, highlighted the importance of tree planting in the country to help combat climate change: “This dialogue is necessary to discuss the Carbon Farming Policy Agricultural Carbon Policy.
The president of AND, I.P., Pedro Godinho da Costa, highlighted the importance of tree planting initiatives in the fight against climate change: “The Agricultural Carbon Policy is important for defining practices that contribute to mitigating climate change.”
He said that Carbon Farming in Timor-Leste aims to mitigate climate change, enhance food security, and reduce poverty.
Carbon Farming is a whole-farm approach to optimizing carbon capture on working landscapes by implementing practices that are known to improve the rate at which CO2 is removed from the atmosphere and stored in plant material and/or soil organic matter, according to Carbon Cycle Institute.
Journalist: José Belarmino De Sá
Editor: Filomeno Martins
