Part of the R30-million project will involve carbon credits; every time Khayelitsha reduces its carbon dioxide emissions by a ton because of its energy-efficient habits, the British government will make a payment to South Africa.

Under the Kyoto Protocol's carbon emission trading system, countries that produce excess carbon dioxide can trade credits with countries that produce less.

Britain has already bought the first 10 000 carbon credits on the Khayelitsha housing energy upgrade for R1-million. The department of environmental affairs and tourism will fund half of the project and negotiations are under way to fund the rest.

It is the first project registered with the Clean Development Mechanism Board in Africa and is designed to bring low cost housing and energy efficient services to the poor.

(Source: The Cape Argus, 1 November 2005)