Gabon is preparing to create 187 million carbon credits, of which 90 million will be sold on the offset market before the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 27), scheduled for next November in Egypt , announced the Gabonese Minister of the Environment, Lee White  according to New Gabon.

“The carbon credits will probably hit the market just before the COP 27 scheduled in Egypt. 90 million will be sold on the offset market, and the balance will be treated according to a non-market mechanism” , he declared during the Commonwealth Summit organized in Rwanda from June 20 to 26.

This operation represents the largest emission of carbon credits on a global scale. According to calculations by Allied Offsets, a provider of data on carbon offsets, the monetization of 90 million carbon credits envisaged by Gabon should allow the country to collect 291 million dollars (i.e. more 180 billion at the current value of the dollar).

Gabon’s forests are part of the Congo Basin, the second largest rainforest in the world after the Amazon. The Central African country, which is seeking to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons, was the first on the continent to receive funds intended to protect the capacity of its forests to absorb carbon. 17 million dollars were indeed paid to the Gabonese State in June 2021 by the Central African Forest Initiative, supported by several European governments.

“Forest conservation is almost a moral responsibility, and a matter of national security,” Mr. White said, quoted by Bloomberg , recalling that the Congo Basin forest favors rainfall in the Sahel region of Ethiopia and the United States. -of the.

A carbon credit (or offset credit) is a unit of measurement corresponding to one tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) that has been avoided or absorbed.

When a company wishes to offset its emissions, it acquires the number of carbon credits corresponding to the volume of its greenhouse gas emissions. The main buyers of these credits are carbon funds, industrial investors, with financial intermediaries (mainly banks) and companies operating in the energy sector.