‘Land grabs’ in Africa replaced by ‘carbon grabs’, says bank chief

Foreign companies are undervaluing Africa’s natural capital and paying derisory prices for its carbon sequestration, the head of the continent’s biggest development bank told the Financial Times.

“We used to have land grabs. Now we are having carbon grabs,” Akinwumi Adesina, the president of the African Development Bank, said of what he described as low prices paid for African carbon credits.

“The cost of getting permits in Europe probably can be as high as €200 a tonne,” he said. “Or you can go get it in Africa for $3. Countries are losing vast areas of forest, vast areas of land, to what I call a carbon grab.”

Adesina, who is leaving after 10 ...
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