OUR HISTORY
In July 2019 the government of South Africa introduced carbon tax legislation.
The tax includes a provision under which carbon credits can be utilised to offset part of the emissions over which carbon tax must be paid by large emitters. This offset allowance provided a shot in the arm for South African carbon market which had gone almost dormant since the collapse of the global carbon market in 2008. In response to this upswing in demand for carbon credits from CDM, VCS and GS approved projects the Southern African Carbon Market Industry Association (SACMA) was established.
OUR OBJECTIVE
The objective of the SACMA is to promote the common carbon market interests of SACMA members in Southern Africa. This overarching objective will be operationalised as follows:
Advocacy
SACMA will interact with all relevant Southern African government and parastatal organisations with the aim to influence and to provide input into the development of a favourable regulatory environment for the Southern African carbon market. It will make representations and submissions regarding the Southern African carbon market to relevant official and other bodies.
Governance
SACMA will facilitate collaboration between interested parties towards achieving holistic, national carbon market capacity and understanding and interact with all relevant Southern African government and parastatal organisations.
Outreach
SACMA will engage with other organisations active in the broader fields of climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable development, including the private sector and civil society, in order to facilitate common goals and interests and engage, as may be appropriate, with other national governments and their regulatory arms, other private sectors, other civil societies and multilateral organisations including United Nations bodies.
Capacity Building
SACMA will facilitate research on specific issues deemed important to the Southern African carbon market and to publish the findings. It will liaise with local and international media regarding the Southern African carbon market.
