The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has commenced moves to establish a regional carbon market platform aimed at unlocking climate finance, strengthening member states’ climate ambitions and improving West Africa’s participation in international carbon markets.

The initiative was disclosed at a three-day regional workshop in Abuja to validate the framework for the establishment of the platform, with stakeholders expected to review the draft framework, make technical and legal recommendations, and agree on governance arrangements and an implementation roadmap.

Representing the ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Dr Kalilou Sylla, the Director for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr Christophe Deguénon, said the initiative was designed to address the region’s limited participation in international carbon markets despite its significant potential to generate high-integrity environmental and social carbon credits.

Deguénon, who delivered Sylla’s opening remarks, said West Africa remained highly vulnerable to climate change, with temperatures projected to rise by between 1.5 and three degrees Celsius by 2050, while climate impacts could force millions of people into internal displacement.

He said, “Climate change constitutes one of the most pressing challenges facing our region today. Indeed, West Africa is among the areas most vulnerable to the effects of climate deregulation.”

According to him, the World Bank estimates that nearly 32 million people could be forced into internal displacement as a result of climate impacts, making collective regional action imperative.

He noted that ECOWAS member states had adopted Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to help keep global temperature increases within the 1.5-degree Celsius target but stressed that achieving the targets would require significant financial resources.

Deguénon said the ECOWAS Regional Strategy for Access to and Mobilization of Climate Finance, adopted in 2022, had estimated the region’s climate financing needs at $294 billion, based on conditional requirements contained in the NDCs 2.0.

He added that the financing gap had widened following the submission of NDCs 3.0, as member states raised their climate ambitions and the urgency for large-scale climate finance increased.

“The regional strategy also identified the need to establish a regional framework for the operationalization of Article 6 to help bridge the financing gap. This framework aims to leverage the region’s massive potential through carbon markets,” he said.

Deguénon identified West Africa’s more than 350 million hectares of agricultural land, major forest blocks, and mangroves, as well as its potential for restoring degraded landscapes, as significant assets capable of generating carbon credits.

He, however, said regulatory gaps, inadequate technical capacity, tracking systems, and certification mechanisms had continued to limit the region’s ability to benefit from international carbon markets.

He said the ECOWAS Commission began an ambitious regional process in 2024, in line with the ECOWAS Vision 2050 and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, to develop a harmonized framework for a regional carbon market platform.

According to him, the proposed platform is anchored on four principles: transparency, environmental integrity, inclusive governance, and valuation of member states’ climate efforts.

“The regional platform we are building is not an end in itself. It must become a true instrument of regional cooperation that enables us to pool skills and share experiences, reduce transaction costs, strengthen the capacities of member states, and improve West Africa’s visibility in international carbon markets,” Deguénon said.

He urged participants to scrutinize and validate the draft framework to ensure that the proposed platform would be credible, transparent and attractive to investors.

The ECOWAS official disclosed that the draft framework was developed by consultants from AETS, with support from partners including BDO Carbon and Standard & Poor’s.

Also speaking, the director of Climate Change, Mrs Iniagbon Abiola-Awe, who represented Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, said the regional initiative was coming at a critical period as climate change continued to threaten West Africa’s economies, ecosystems, food security, livelihoods, and communities.

Abiola-Awe welcomed delegates to Abuja and commended the ECOWAS Commission for choosing Nigeria to host the regional engagement.

“Although West Africa contributes only a small fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions, we remain among the people and the regions most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change,” she said.

She listed extreme weather events and flooding, desertification and land degradation, biodiversity loss and displacement of communities among the challenges confronting the region.

The Nigerian representative said the challenges also presented opportunities for stronger regional cooperation, innovation, and investment in climate action.

She described carbon markets as an important mechanism for mobilising climate finance, incentivizing emissions reductions, promoting sustainable development, and creating new economic opportunities.

“The initiative by the ECOWAS Commission to establish a regional carbon market platform is therefore both timely and strategic,” she said.

According to her, the proposed platform reflects the region’s commitments to implementing the Paris Agreement, advancing the ECOWAS Regional Climate Strategy and supporting the objectives of ECOWAS Vision 2050 and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

She said consultations previously held in Abidjan and Accra had laid a strong foundation for the Abuja validation exercise.

Abiola-Awe said Nigeria believed that a well-designed regional carbon market could help member states attract climate investments, support nature-based solutions, increase private-sector participation, and create green jobs while ensuring environmental integrity and equitable benefit-sharing.

She noted that individual West African countries were already developing national carbon market frameworks, including Nigeria, which she said launched its carbon market framework at COP30, with its registry currently under development.

She said the proposed regional platform would complement national efforts by facilitating information sharing, peer learning, and a clearer understanding of the region’s overall carbon market potential.

“As the host country, Nigeria remains committed to working very closely with ECOWAS, member states, and our development partners to ensure that this platform translates into practical actions that deliver tangible benefits for our people and our economies within the region,” she said.

Abiola-Awe urged participants to contribute their technical expertise and experiences during the three-day workshop, stressing that their recommendations would determine the effectiveness of the proposed regional architecture.

She said the workshop was expected to incorporate technical and legal recommendations, approve governance arrangements, and adopt a regional roadmap for implementation.

She added that building an effective regional carbon market would require sustained collaboration, strong governance, and continuous capacity development across ECOWAS member states.

“The decisions we make here today will influence how West Africa positions itself within the evolving global carbon market landscape. Let us therefore seize this opportunity to establish a framework that promotes environmental integrity, regional solidarity, and sustainable economic growth,” Abiola-Awe said.

She subsequently declared open the regional workshop to validate the framework for the establishment of a carbon market platform in West Africa. (Tribune)

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