Laos has reached a bilateral cooperation agreement with the Japanese government for a Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) in a low carbon growth partnership after both sides consulted last year.
The agreement was signed in Vientiane yesterday between Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Noulin Sinbandith, and the Japanese Ambassador to Laos, Junko Yokota, with representatives of both governments in attendance.
This cooperation will help to contribute to climate change management in Laos, especially the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Noulin said.
He believed that the assistance and support from the Japanese government will make a good contribution to addressing global warming and said that Japanese investment is welcome in greenhouse gas emission reduction projects in Laos.
The cooperation will also to help improve the skills of Lao technical staff, who will receive new lessons on technology use from Japanese experts, he said.
Meanwhile, the Japanese side will benefit from the carbon credit project under the Joint Credit Mechanism, which is its own obligation to implement, on behalf a party of the UNFCCC.
More importantly, this cooperation will further strengthen the relationship between the two governments, Laos and Japan, in the future, Noulin said.
“However, we still have challenging work ahead to consult and seek bilateral cooperation with the aim to promote Laos' potential to contribute to greenhouse gas emissions reduction as well as capacity building among Lao technical staff,” he noted.
Under this bilateral cooperation agreement between Laos and Japan about greenhouse gas emissions, the two parties will take the first step towards agreement in credit carbon trading in the future, Noulin said.
The Joint Credit Mechanism is a part of Clean Development Mechanism under the UNFCCC, aiming to reduce carbon harmful emissions around the world, said Yokota, the Japanese Ambassador.
Japan has now reached bilateral cooperation agreements for a low carbon growth partnership with Mongolia, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Maldives, Vietnam and Laos as the seventh partner, she said.
The Lao and Japanese government have also agreed to set up a joint committee for seeking the best ways to implement the work and allocate the rules, which will be acceptable and suited to the facts, Yokota said.
As Laos is rich in forest resources, she hoped that with cooperation on the Joint Crediting Mechanism, they can help promote sustainable forest conservation and management in Laos.
SOURCE / Vientiane Times