A Niger Delta-based Security Expert, Capt. Warredi Enisuoh, has urged Niger Delta communities to embrace vegetation-based carbon trading for revenue earning and development.
Enisuoh, the Executive Director, Operations and Technical, Tantita Securities Services, a pipeline surveillance firm operating in the Niger Delta region, made the call at a Pan-Ijaw Summit in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, on Saturday (yesterday, October 19).
Speaking on the sub-theme, ”Infrastructural Protection” Enisuoh urged Niger Delta community leaders to discourage oil theft and use their vegetation to generate wealth through carbon capture trading.
Carbon capture is the process of trapping carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels or other chemical or biological processes and storing it in such a way that it is unable to affect the atmosphere, the aim being to mitigate the effects of global warming. Large amounts of greenhouse gases can be removed from the atmosphere via carbon capture.
The security expert said that earning carbon credits with vegetation was a legitimate and environment-friendly source of revenue.
He said that the firm has already begun to sensitise Niger Delta communities to tap into the opportunities in vegetation-based carbon trading.
Enisuoh urged Niger Delta communities to look beyond oil and gas, saying, ”we have a lot of trees in the region, let’s embrace carbon capture trading to earn income.”
“It is now part of our message to Niger Delta communities, (that) we must discourage crude oil theft and its associated destruction on the ecosystem.
“It is time to embrace a cleaner alternative income and energy source. We can use our vegetation to generate wealth through carbon capture trading.
“By doing so, we will be promoting a safer and environmentally friendly source of livelihood as opposed to oil theft,” he said.
He said that there were companies around the world, willing to partner with the region in harnessing the opportunities in carbon capture trading.
“Apart from oil and gas, our rich mangrove vegetation can earn us revenue in huge quantities.
“One tree alone can absorb about 80kg of carbon dioxide in a year, and that is quite a lot of money.
“If you have thousands of these trees in your community that capture carbon capacity, they can be traded for money or development.
“This is better than breaking oil pipelines. It is better than those acts that further degrade the environment,” he said.
