Papua New Guinea’s Climate Change Management Act revision “has now been completed without proper public stakeholder consultation” PNG Environmental Alliance says

Meanwhile William Lakain, the acting manager of the Climate Change and Development Authority, faces allegations of corruption

PHOTO Credit: Lakain affirmed CCDA staff United, EMTV, 2 July 2023

Recently, Papua New Guinea’s Post Courier reported the following:

The Climate Change Management Act (CCMA) 2021 amendment is now set before the National Executive Council for endorsement and for further tabling in Parliament in the next Parliament sitting.

The amended CCMA provides for the regulation of carbon market in the country.

Post Courier reported William Lakain, the acting manager of the Climate Change and Development Authority, as saying that the amended Act will make way for revenue generation through the sale of “quantified carbon credits from climate change mitigation activities”.

Lakain said that,

“The revised CCMA also provides for the establishment of a National Climate Change Board which will provide overall direction in ensuring transparency and accountability of CCDA’s function.

“Besides, we have made a submission to the NEC for the setup of the board pending approval.

“These are significant progresses among other key progresses at CCDA under my one-year tenure as the acting managing director.”

Lakain’s comments came during what Post Courier describes as a “small but significant get together” on 30 June 2023 with CCDA management and staff.

Loop PNG also wrote about the “get together” reporting that Lakain said, “Despite recent media allegations surrounding mismanagement issues, CCDA has made significant strides.”

Corruption allegations against CCDA

Lakain’s “media allegations surrounding mismanagement issues” is one way of putting it. Earlier this year, armed police raided the CCDA’s office in Port Morseby and seized computers and financial records.

CCDA staff are accused of misappropriating US$1.3 million.

The day before the CCDA “get together” a message appeared on Facebook asking why there had been so few arrests relating to the alleged corruption scandal.

The Facebook message was posted in several chat groups on Facebook and asks why high-profile suspects such as Lakain had not yet been arrested “despite the mounting evidence against them”.

In March 2023, Lakain filed a petition in the National Court to stop what he claimed was “harassment and intimidation” by a former employee, Alfred Rungol and the police.

The petition was recently rejected. In rejecting the petition, National Court judge Justice Anis ruled that Lakain started the court proceedings after his term expired. “He does not appear”, the judge said, to have status or capacity of an acting managing director of the CCDA since his term expired on 28 June 2022.

In May 2023, Lakain put out a media statement in which he states that, “I categorically reject these allegations”.

PNG breaches free, prior and informed consent guidelines

The PNG Environmental Alliance has written a series of letters and public statements about the country’s proposed regulation of the carbon market. In a letter dated 31 March 2023, the PNG Environmental Alliance asked the CCDA to,

Publish an outlined plan for the development and implementation of a full regulatory framework for carbon markets in PNG.

The CCDA did not officially respond to the letter. Neither did it publish the requested plan.

The PNG Environmental Alliance today put out a statement accusing the PNG government of being in breach of its own REDD+ guidelines on free, prior and informed consent.

The statement is posted here in full:

PNG Government breaches its own REDD+ FPIC Guidelines

Through articles in the national newspapers, the Papua New Guinea Climate Change & Development Authority (CCDA) has announced that they have completed a revision of the country's Climate Change Management Act (CCMA), with the amended Act already submitted to the National Executive Council for endorsement, after which it will go the PNG Parliament for approval.

The PNG Environmental Alliance (PNGEA) wrote an Open Letter on 31 March 2023 (attached), which was published in the Post Courier, one of the two national newspapers in PNG, asking the CCDA to publish a clearly outlined plan for the development and implementation of a full regulatory framework for carbon markets in PNG. This plan should provide sufficient time and opportunities for stakeholder consultation on all elements of the regulatory framework currently under development or that still need to be developed.

Although the publication of this Open Letter prompted the CCDA to respond to another request from the PNGEA stated in this letter, i.e. to re-open the stakeholder consultation on the Carbon Market Regulation, it did not officially respond to the letter, nor did it publish the requested plan for remaining regulatory framework development.

Regarding the CCMA revision, the PNGEA letter requested “A revision of the CCMA through a transparent process, including thorough stakeholder consultation, with key points for the revision being the definition of ‘carbon rights’ (and any reference to primary and secondary carbon rights), references to safeguards and regulations for all types of carbon credit projects, alignment of existing forestry, environmental and energy legislation, and a clear outline of how carbon projects will be nested within a national approach, and how this will be governed.”

However, the CCMA revision has now been completed without proper public stakeholder consultation, and although there is some information on the Sections that have been revised, it is unclear what changes have been made, and whether all the essential issues identified by the PNGEA have been included. The CCDA claims that there has been on-one-one consultation with stakeholders on certain Sections, but it is unclear which key stakeholders were consulted and on which Sections.

The manner in which this revision of the CCMA has been done, sees the PNG Government breaching its own REDD+ FPIC Guidelines. These FPIC Guidelines are part of the four REDD+ Safeguards documents that were finalised earlier this year, with their final versions now scheduled for official presentation in early August.

Although the final version of the FPIC Guidelines have not yet been made available to the public, Section  1.4 and 1.6 of the Final draft PNG National REDD+ FPIC Guidelines (August 2022), which were made available to the public, give clear guidance on how FPIC for national level processes is to be obtained:

There has been no consultation with customary landholders, NGO's or other civil society actors on the revision of the CCMA, meaning that if the NEC endorses this amendment and submits it to Parliament for approval, the PNG Government breaches its very own REDD+ FPIC Safeguards.

The PNGEA therefore urges the PNG Government to bring the amended CCMA back for proper public stakeholder consultation, and allow this important revision process to be given sufficient time for completion.

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On behalf of the following PNGEA members:

Bismarck Ramu Group (BRG)
Centre for Environmental Law & Community Rights (CELCOR)
Consultative Implementation & Monitoring Council (CIMC)
FORCERT – Forests for Certain: Forests for Life!
Institute of National Affairs (INA)
Partners with Melanesians (PwM)
PNG Council of Churches (PNGCC)
Research & Conservation Foundation (RCF)
Tenkile Conservation Alliance (TCA)
Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program (TKCP)
Wide Bay Conservation Association (WBCA)

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