Carbon trading, once fully operational, will be the next source of income for the Climate Change Development Authority (CCDA) as well as for the country given its potential to generate income. CCDA Managing Director, William Lakain said Carbon Trade is going to be the next biggest commodity for Papua New Guinea (PNG). Currently, there are about 1 or 2 Carbon Project operating in the country and that number is expected to grow in the coming years. Mr. Lakain stated that CCDA will make a submission to the National Executive Council (NEC) to review the Climate Change Management Act and to also review the Carbon Management Act. Once approved, it will go to parliament to be tabled and once it is ratified, it will become the law to guide all activities under Climate Change and Carbon Trade. Lakain stated that this will then create the permit system and whoever wants to operate carbon projects will apply for the permit. “We will give them the permit, and they operate by the law so everything comes back to the focus of the government, so that government can generate its revenue through the permit system.” Mr. Lakain also highlighted that funding from the government each year from the budget is not enough to carry out Climate Change projects and programs each year; therefore, there must be another avenue to get in the much-needed funds. Mr. Lakain said funding is not always enough and gave an example of the funds allocated to CCDA in 2022 from the National Budget. “In 2022 CCDA was allocated K8million, K5.6million was for personal emoluments and the reminder K2million plus was allocated for operations, so take that K2million and divide by 12 months. Funding has been one of the biggest issues that we face,” he said. “That is why most projects that we roll out are funded by partners and stakeholders, and that is where most fund for individual projects come in.” Lakain added that climate change is a very important issue right now and if government is very serious about tackling the climate change issue, then they should start with allocating more funds to support Climate Change projects to improve and sustain all the communities. “However, one of the possible ways CCDA can start to make money for itself is through generating revenues from carbon taxes in carbon trading, so hopefully NEC and the Parliament will consider the review on Climate Change Management Act and Carbon Management Act sooner.”