Carbon Credits: FGIS Appointed Exclusive Agent for the Sale

The Gabonese Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment (FGIS) was designated by theCouncil of Ministers on 13 October as the body responsible for marketing carbon credits of the Gabonese Republic.

Newly certified to the carbon credit of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) over the period 2010-2018, Gabon is gradually organizing and structuring the management mechanism of its carbon credit, as part of the fight against climate change. 

Indeed, a carbon credit is a unit corresponding to the emission of one tonne of CO2. This new credit system was developed by the Kyoto Protocol and has the role of guiding companies towards the fight against global warming. Each company is allocated a certain number of carbon credits, which are its own and correspond to what it can emit in terms of CO2. If the company, having reduced its emissions, has a surplus of credits, it can put them up for sale on the carbon market. 1 tonne of non-emitted carbon is equivalent to 1 carbon credit.

The Council of Ministers of 13 October endorsed the draft decree, adopted pursuant to the provisions of Article 20 of Law No. 002/2014 of 1 August 2014 on the orientation of sustainable development in the Gabonese Republic, designating the body responsible for marketing Gabon's carbon credits. Thus, the Gabonese Sovereign Wealth Fund is appointed exclusive agent in charge of marketing carbon credits belonging to the Gabonese State. 

As such, the FGIS agent is responsible, among other things, on the national territory or abroad: to negotiate and conclude the selling prices of carbon credits, in accordance with the rules and practices in force; to provide for the execution of the agreements resulting from these negotiations; to constitute a documentary portfolio for the exercise of its mission; to use any required expertise; to set up any support structure for the exercise of its mission; to collect the resources resulting from the marketing of carbon credits and to pay them back in accordance with the provisions in force; to remunerate all stakeholders, service providers or experts mobilized in the execution of its mission.

However, specifies the final communiqué of the Council of Ministers, "as part of the execution of the said mandate, the follow-up is ensured jointly by the Minister of the Economy and the Minister of the Environment". Each year, more than 100 million tons of CO2 are sequestered on average by the Gabonese forest.