World Bank buys carbon credits from PH hog raisers

MANILA, Philippines – The World Bank is now buying carbon credits from local hog raisers who invest in wastewater treatment facilities to better dispose of pig manure and generate electricity.

In a statement on Monday, August 5, the Washington-based lender said it is buying these carbon credits on behalf of the Spanish Carbon Fund which it administers.

Through buying these carbon credits, the World Bank provides hog raisers with an additional revenue stream.

“This is the first program of activities from the Philippines to be registered and it is the first registered biogas PoA (Programme of Activity) in the animal waste sector in Southeast Asia, a region home to a significant number of the world’s pigs,” World Bank Carbon Finance Specialist Nick Bowden said.

When fully implemented, the program is expected to produce over 100,000 tons of carbon credits per year from dozens of pig farms across the country, the lender said.

This is the equivalent to a reduction of 100,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The project is implemented by the Land Bank of the Philippines and supported by the World Bank’s Carbon Finance Unit.

The Landbank provides carbon finance to hog raisers to install proper waste management systems and reduce the emission of methane.

Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, can be used to generate renewable electricity replacing fossil fuel derived electricity.

“We are pleased to work with the World Bank on this project because we are hitting two goals at the same time: providing financial support to farmers in the countryside – which is our core mandate – while contributing to efforts at mitigating climate change,” Landbank President and Chief Executive Officer Gilda E. Pico said.

Carbon finance facilitates financial rewards through carbon credits for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by emitters in developing countries, like the Philippines, through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. – Rappler.com