Carbon markets offer opportunities to scale up climate finance while promoting climate action. As the continent most affected by climate change, Africa has rich potential to leverage its natural capital for the generation and sale of carbon credits. Carbon markets can also help to increase jobs, promote economic development and help to achieve the African Union’s Agenda 2063. However, to avoid ‘greenwashing’ and unequitable outcomes, there is a need for African countries to develop robust regulatory frameworks.
At the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Article 6 of the Paris Agreement was approved. Article 6 is intended to replace the Clean Development Mechanism established under the Kyoto Protocol, providing the overarching rulebook for carbon trading between countries. Article 6 is an important tool to accelerate the achievement of countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions and could reduce the cost of their implementation by as much as $250 billion by 2030. However, with the rules of Article 6 yet to be concluded, it is important that African countries participate in shaping the rules of carbon trading. To this end, platforms such as the African Multi-Stakeholder Conference on Carbon Markets, hosted by the AU in July 2024, offer important opportunities to enhance regional collaboration on agenda setting for Article 6 in the lead-up to COP29. In this webinar, experts will delve into the opportunities for scaling up responsible carbon markets in Africa while also considering the controversy surrounding their implementation.
Panellists
- Gray Maguire, Senior Carbon Originator, Anthesis Group
- Steve Makungwa, Senior Lecturer, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources
- Sam Ogallah, Senior Climate Change Advisor, African Union
Moderator
- Hannah Sack, Climate and Natural Resources Programme Researcher, SAIIA
We look forward to your attendance and participation.