Three carbon projects S’pore buying nature-based credits from to use newly approved methodologies

Three of the four projects that Singapore recently secured its first set of nature-based carbon credits from will use two newly approved methodologies that will be added to the Republic's eligibility list for international carbon crediting, with additional safeguards.

- Shabana Begum

Both protocols fall under carbon crediting programme Verra, and will be included in the implementation agreements that Singapore has signed with Peru and Ghana, where the three projects are sited.

The first applies to afforestation, reforestation and revegetation (ARR) projects.

It sets out rules for quantifying carbon dioxide captured by planting trees in an area that previously did not have any forest cover, or by restoring forests or vegetation.

This applies to the project in Ghana, which aims to restore the Kwahu tropical forest landscape and rejuvenate 51,000ha of degraded land.

The second is an updated method that improves Redd+ projects by introducing more precise, jurisdiction-wide baseline maps, among other things.

Redd+ stands for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, while conserving and sustainably managing forests, and enhancing carbon storage.

Two projects in Peru involve protecting forested areas from logging.

The Government will spend $76.4 million to buy more than two million carbon credits from these three projects and a fourth in Paraguay. Each credit represents one tonne of carbon dioxide that is either removed from the atmosphere, such as through a restoration effort, or prevented from being released, such as when a forest is saved from logging.