A new Africa Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI) has been inaugurated at the ongoing climate change summit in Egypt, with the aim of supporting the growth of carbon credit production and creating jobs in Africa.
Carbon markets are known to offer an incredible opportunity to unlock billions for the climate finance needs of African economies while expanding energy access, creating jobs, protecting biodiversity, and driving climate action. However, Africa currently produces only a tiny percentage of its carbon credit potential.
However, the new initiative is expected to, among other things, produce 300 million carbon credits annually by 2030, 1.5 billion credits annually by 2050, and unlock 6 billion in revenue by 2030 and over 120 billion by 2050.
It will also support 30 million jobs by 2030 and over 110 million jobs by 2050 and distribute revenue equitably and transparently to local communities.
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Led by a thirteen-member steering committee of African leaders, CEOs, and carbon credit experts, the ACMI is also intended to dramatically expand Africa’s participation in voluntary carbon markets.
The initiative was inaugurated at COP27 in collaboration with The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), and the UN Economic Commission for Africa, with the support of the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions – Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin and Nigel Topping.
Commenting on ACMI’s ambition, the CEO of SEforALL and a member of the ACMI’s steering committee, Damilola Ogunbiyi said that the current scale of financing available for Africa’s energy transition was nowhere close to what was required.
“Achieving the Africa Carbon Markets Initiative targets will provide much-needed financing that will be transformative for the continent,” he said.
Also commenting, ACMI steering committee member and USAID Chief Climate Officer Gillian Caldwell said that the African voluntary carbon market will only succeed if people trust that African credits were driving real climate action and having a positive human impact.
“As the VCM scales in Africa, USAID and ACMI will ensure that it does so with integrity as a core pillar,” he was quoted as saying.
To stimulate the production of high-integrity credits, the ACMI is collaborating with global integrity initiatives like the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (IC-VCM) and the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI), as well as other regional carbon market platforms.
An ACMI roadmap report: Harnessing carbon markets for Africa at the initiative’s COP 27 which was launched at the event, identifies 13 action programs to support the growth of voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) on the continent.
Although voluntary carbon markets are already growing quickly—retirements of African credits have grown by an average of 36% annually over the past five years—the report showed that aggressive action will be required to maintain this level of growth over the coming decades.
Several African nations including Kenya, Malawi, Gabon, Nigeria and Togo shared their commitment to collaborating with ACMI to scale carbon credit production via voluntary carbon market activation plans. Together, theyhave a maximum potential to generate ~300+ MtCO2e. Even capturing 25% of this potential, ~75 MtCO2e would be double the total credits issued across the entire continent in 2021.
Reacting to the development, Nigeria’s Vice President and ACMI steering committee member Yemi Osinbajo said that Carbon markets can deliver tremendous benefits for Nigeria and for Africa—creating jobs, driving green investment, and reducing emissions.
“Nigeria is putting the groundwork in place today so that in subsequent years, carbon credits become a major industry that will benefit our people,” he said.
Story was adapted from Climate champions.
