By Kondanani Chilimunthaka

President Lazarus Chakwera has said Malawi has every reason to prefer a green economy over an economy that degrades and destroys the environment, hence his commitment and his administration towards the establishment of the Carbon Markets.

Speaking at the launch of Malawi’s Carbon Markets Initiative at Botanic Gardens in the capital Lilongwe, Chakwera told the nation that Malawi has potential to generate over $600 million with close to 20 million metric tons of carbon per year, adding that it is the reason why he appointed two of his Ministers (Minister of Finance and Minister of Natural Resources and Climate Change) to jointly establish and champion the Malawi Carbon Market Initiative and to optimize it for economic growth.

“Four months ago in my State Of the Nation Address, I mentioned that my Administration was going to pursue carbon markets through the partnership we had already established with the African Carbon Markets Initiative for the scaling up of our carbon credit production. Today, with the launch of Malawi own Carbon Markets Initiative, we are fulfilling that promise and positioning our country for prosperity as a green economy”. Said the President.

Further, Chakwera told the nation that the country has over 1 million hectares of designated forest reserves and over a million hectares of land under wildlife conservation reserves which both can be traded for carbon credits making Malawi’s potential for carbon trading so huge.

However, President Chakwera said he realizes that the initiative and the commitment by his administration to building a green economy that balances the prosperity with environmental sustainability has not gone down well with other quotas as they are beneficiaries of devastating outcomes due to environmental challenges.

Here President Chakwera challenged that his administration will see to it that a green economy is fully established, saying it is possible and necessary to build economic prosperity and environmental sustainability at the same time for country’s development.