FRA Announces Execution of a Transaction Involving the Sale of 350 Carbon Credits – Thursday 21 November 2024

FRA announced the successful sale of 350 carbon credits, marking a significant step in activating Egypt’s voluntary carbon market.

The transaction took place between the Insurance Federation of Egypt “IFE” as the buyer and Minya Governorate Comprehensive Project, a carbon reduction initiative by the Egyptian Biodynamic Agriculture Association (EBDA), listed at FRA’s carbon reduction database.

The transaction was executed via “pre-arranged deal” facilitated by Beltone Financial, a brokerage firm duly licensed by FRA to trade voluntary carbon credits.

The initial phase of this two-phased transaction, encompassing 350 carbon credits, is expected to be finalized within the next few days.

In August 2024, FRA led by Dr. Mohamed Farid, launched Egypt’s first regulated Voluntary Carbon Market. Six ministers attended the launch, which involved registering carbon reduction projects and trading carbon credits. This followed the successful completion of all regulatory requirements in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment.

Since its launch, three key transactions have been completed. This included transactions between Isis Food Industries (buyer) and the Egyptian Biodynamic Agriculture Association (EBDA) (seller) through Beltone Securities Brokerage, with 500 credits sold at EGP 1,040 each. Additionally, DALTEX purchased 1,500 credits at $18 each, while VNV Advisory and SCB Environmental Markets conducted trades through CI Capital Securities Brokerage.

In a joint effort to promote environmental sustainability, Dr. Mohamed Farid, FRA Chairman, and the Insurance Federation of Egypt collaborated on a tree-planting initiative in Sharm El-Sheikh. The event, which coincided with the 6^th  Sharm Rendezvous 2024, aimed to offset the carbon emissions generated by the flights transporting conference attendees.

On the other hand, Mr. Alaa Elzoheiry, IFE Chairman highlighted the Federation’s commitment to implementing sustainability initiatives, with a specific focus on mitigating carbon emissions. He emphasized that the Federation, in partnership with the Financial Regulatory Authority, conducted a carbon footprint assessment of the 6^th Sharm Rendezvous and subsequently purchased carbon credits to neutralize the emissions generated. By purchasing these carbon credits, IFE has demonstrated its commitment to environmental sustainability. The Federation will now raise the awareness of insurance companies on the benefits of participating in the voluntary carbon market and reducing their carbon footprint.

These actions taken by the Authority are consistent with the Egyptian government’s broader strategy to promote the development of regulated markets, as articulated in the COP 27 declaration. The Authority has initiated numerous actions, such as the issuance of  Prime Ministerial Decree no. 4664 of 2022, which modifies certain articles of the Executive Regulations of the Capital Market Law No. 95 of 1992 to recognize carbon credits as financial instrument , this is pursuant to a proposal by the Authority’s board of directors. Followed by establishing the first “Committee for Supervision of Carbon Emission Reduction Units (Carbon Credits). Subsequently, the Authority issued a decree to regulate the registration of validation/verification bodies (VVBs) at FRA’s registry. Then, the Authority established rules for listing and delisting carbon credits on Egyptian exchanges. It also approved standards for local carbon registries and endorsed trading and settlement rules for carbon credits.