Joe Nam
4 May 2008
Kampala — UGANDA could join the exclusive club of 'clean air producing and exporting countries' during an international climate conference in Yokohama, Japan at the end of this month.
Delegates to the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, which is set to open on May 28, will fast track solutions to energy and environmental crisis in Africa.
Their discussions will be based on the Kyoto Protocol Climate Pact of 1997 and other international environmental management instruments under the New Partnership for Africa's Development, Forum for African Energy Ministers and the United Nations.
"Japan is keen on Africa's participation in global environmental management, especially the reduction of greenhouse gases," Dr. Noka Miyajima, one of the authors of the Kyoto Protocol, said recently.
According to Miyajima, Uganda's private sector, civil society organisations and the Government could benefit immensely from the 'Cool Earth Partnership', a $10b five-year initiative by the Japan Government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The amount of clean air a country produces is equal to the amount of oxygen that green vegetation in their country's release to the atmosphere.
"We expect Uganda to sell her clean air to Japanese companies and use the money to promote sustainable development and a clean environment," Miyajima said.
Experts estimate that Japanese industries will buy over one billion tonnes worth of carbon credits between 2008-2012, the commitment period of the Kyoto protocol.
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