By DALE LUMA

THE country does not have accurate data on how much carbon dioxide is emitted, says Environment Conservation and Climate Change Minister Wera Mori. He told The National during the National Protected Areas Summit in Port Moresby that this was one of the agendas going forward.

“That’s one of the things we are going to embark on,” Mori said.

“Currently, we do not have the data. “We need someone to establish a database which will detail how much of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases like nitrous oxide, methane and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) we discharge into the atmosphere.

“Secondly, we need to contrast that by how much of our rainforest areas in the country store carbon dioxide already in our plants.“

Different plant types and vegetation cover generally will store different amounts of carbon dioxide and they release oxygen into the atmosphere.

“So currently, what you will find is that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that we emit into the atmosphere is insignificant to what is being emitted by the industrialised world. “Countries like Australia, Europe, United Staes, China and Japan emit more than us.

“So what we have in balance and credit our carbon that we store and the capacity that we store more and therefore, we are now migrating towards trading our carbon credits.

“Recently, I entered into an agreement, not a binding agreement, but to try and make a start that we coordinate the trading of carbon credits in the country.”