PNG concerned media report will undermine REDD+ investments

Quantum Commodity Intelligence – Papua New Guinea authorities are concerned a media report by Australian television channel ABC will undermine investments into the country's forest carbon stocks, a spokeswoman for the country's Climate Change Development Authority (CCDA) told Quantum.

On Monday, ABC Four Corners aired a show criticising the only active project in the country, NIHT Topaiyo, as well as two upcoming schemes by project developer KMS Management in Oro Province and by Australian resources firm Mayur in the Western Province.

The ABC show pointed to unplanned deforestation within Topaiyo's project area and to unhappiness from some local communities about the amount of money they have received to date.

It also accused one NIHT coworker of "fudging" some carbon accounting numbers in one instance and discussed a past civil case against NIHT CEO Stephen Strauss.

The Topaiyo project (VCS2293) is situated on the islands of East New Britain and New Ireland.

In response, the PNG CCDA said: "It is of the opinion that the ABC investigative report is one sided and does not reflect carbon trading in PNG."

"That news have discredited the efforts put in by the government to be global leaders in REDD+ especially CCDA. It is suspicious why CCDA, East New Britain provincial government and New Ireland provincial government have not been interviewed."

On Friday, Minister for Environment, Conservation and Climate Change Simon Kilepa published a statement clarifying that the country's REDD+ guidelines will be published by late March, as previously reported by Quantum.

Procedures

The upcoming regulation is expected to include procedures relating to the application and approval process for the generation, issuance and sale of credits, as well as a framework for benefit sharing and reporting.

"Recently, we have experienced an influx in project level Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) in the country targetting the Voluntary Carbon Markets. This has been happening in the absence of a regulatory framework, posing significant risks of governance, transparency and standards," wrote Kilepa.

"I would like to assure my fellow Ministers, Partners, Stakeholders, Investors and citizens of PNG that my Ministry is doing its best to progress the regulation."

PNG is home to large tropical forests, with financiers lining up to announce investments in carbon projects in recent years.

In March 2022, the country imposed a moratorium on "new and intending" avoided deforestation projects with the CCDA put in charge of developing a carbon market regulation and some guidelines on REDD+ activities.

In the wake of the ABC report, US-based registry Verra suspended the account of developer NIHT, but not the Topaiyo project.

"The (ABC) interview was only targeting people that would destroy NIHT. They even went to NIHT's carbon buyers in Australia," the CCDA told Quantum.

"This is serious, especially for PNG as it discredits the carbon trading in PNG and we could be blacklisted from the market."

REDD projects do not always succeed in stopping all unplanned deforestation because they are situated in areas at high risk of logging.