June 15, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to set up a carbon fund to promote carbon trading and provide financial as well as technical support for potential project developers, a government minister said Thursday. The concept imitates an ecosystem that produces food and manages the land. Trees and vegetables useful to mankind will be grown in this system by villagers. The fund will undertake carbon asset management activities such as financing, investment on Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects, buying and selling of carbon credits as well as consultancy services, Information Minister Anura Yapa told reporters.
Carbon trading is a scheme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by giving them a monetary value. A credit gives the owner the right to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide.
Sri Lanka is in the initial stages of CDM project attempts, according to a proposal submitted to the Cabinet by Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Champika Ranawaka.
Many attempts by the private sector have failed as a result of the lack of financing, investment risks and lack of information on implementing the projects.
Inadequate technical skills in the local office of the United Nations Framework Convent
