C.E.O. Martinez: Belize Can Make Hundreds of Millions of Dollars off Carbon Credits

As the whole discussion of climate change and carbon credits takes shape, Belize being under-developed, as it were, is an advantage for us in the greater scheme of things. That’s because we can benefit from a significant amount of money, possibly hundreds of millions of dollars because we are still a green nation with a very tiny amount of greenhouse gas emissions, compared to bigger countries. But C.E.O. in the Ministry of Economic Development, Doctor Osmond Martinez says we have get our laws in carbon credits in order first.

Osmond Martinez

Dr. Osmond Martinez, C.E.O., Ministry of Economic Development

“We need to formalize the trade of carbon credits in Belize. Red Plus has completed a program, which was financed by the Global Environmental Fund, and its completed now. They have identified anywhere between one hundred to five hundred million U.S. that Belize can make off carbon credits. One of the limited resources that we have, not only in Belize but worldwide are specialists that will be here to help us to formalize that legislation. So through the United Nations Environmental Program, UNEP, we will be getting some assistance to formalize that legislation. However, the Ministry of Sustainable Development has been working with other law firms and they already have a draft of the legislation of carbon credits. So we’re serious in terms of where we’re moving in terms of that legislation and the main objective is that Belizeans should enjoy that benefit.”