Publications /
Policy Paper

Back
Download PDF
Voluntary Carbon Markets in Africa: A Deep Dive Into Opportunities and Challenges
Authors
Sabrina Camélia Pagop
Luc Savard
April 29, 2024
Related topics: 
Commodities & Energy
Natural Resources
Energy transition and Renewables
Africa

This study conducts an in-depth exploration of the increasing interest in voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) in Africa, shedding light on the potential opportunities and challenges associated with African participation in these markets. VCMs have gained prominence as promising means to address climate change, driven by substantial financial incentives and market expansion. Nonetheless, persistent debates revolve around the legitimacy of carbon credits and their tangible contributions to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Drawing from secondary data sources, this research undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the theoretical foundations of carbon markets, the historical evolution of VCM initiatives in Africa, and the specific challenges and opportunities that beckon African nations towards more active involvement. Historically, African countries have primarily been passive beneficiaries of VCMs. Therefore, this study aims to provide insights about how African countries can strategically navigate these markets to maximize their potential benefits for sustainable development while contributing meaningfully to climate change mitigation and adaptation endeavors.

RELATED CONTENT

  • Download PDF
    Morocco’s Decarbonization Pathway Part I: Introduction to a Joint Study
    Authors
    Rim Berahab
    Chami Abdelilah
    Derj Atar
    Hammi Ibtissem
    Morazzo Mariano
    Naciri Yassine
    Afaf Zarkik
    with the technical support of AFRY
    June 28, 2021
    During the 2015 Paris Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), governments pledged to limit the global temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre- industrial levels, to peak emissions as soon as possible, and to achieve carbon neutrality in the second half of the century. Yet, even assuming full implementation of the commitments made by governments in Paris, the global concentration of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions will ...
  • Otaviano Canuto on Natural Wealth and Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa
    June 2, 2021
    Otaviano Canuto, Policy Center for the New South The conceptual framework of natural wealth that we approached in the previous video may be illustrated with cases drawn from Sub-Saharan Africa. With at least 250 million inhabitants in resource-rich African countries, natural assets are ...
  • Download PDF
    Africa’s Mining Potential: Trends, Opportunities, Challenges and Strategies
    Authors
    Landry Signé
    In collaboration with Chelsea Johnson
    May 19, 2021
    Africa is endowed with abundant mineral resources, including gold, silver, copper, uranium, cobalt, and many other metals which are key inputs to manufacturing processes around the world. The mining and extractive sector has contributed and continues to contribute a significant share of Africa’s exports, revenue and GDP annually. In 2019, minerals and fossil fuels accounted for over a third of exports from at least 60% of African countries. Additionally, 42 out of 54 African countri ...
  • Download PDF
    The Nigerian Energy Crisis: What Prospects for Green Recovery and Transatlantic Integration?
    Authors
    Rim Berahab
    April 27, 2021
    With a population of approximately 200 million, Nigeria accounts for about half of West Africa's population and has one of the largest concentrations of young people in the world. Endowed with abundant natural resources, Nigeria is one of Africa's largest oil exporters, with an estimated 37 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, the majority of which are found in the Niger River Delta and offshore in the Bight of Benin, the Gulf of Guinea and the Bight of Bonny. Nigeria also ...
  • Download PDF
    Forces et faiblesses de la CEDEAO en 2021
    Authors
    Henri-Louis Vedie
    March 17, 2021
    Cette étude concerne la Communauté économique des Etats d'Afrique de l'Ouest (CEDEAO), rappelant, tout d'abord, leur diversité géographique, démographique et économique. Montrant ce que ces Etats ont en commun mais, aussi, ce qui les différencie. La CEDEAO, qui réunit quinze pays parmi les plus pauvres de la planète, si on se réfère à leur PIB par habitant, en dollar courant ou en parité de pouvoir d'achat/PPA/. Ce qui explique une démographie explosive, sans que l'on puisse dire si ...
  • The Pandemic Will Reshape Globalization
    Authors
    Otaviano Canuto
    December 7, 2020
    The pandemic is accelerating history, in the sense that it is leading to the speeding up of some recent trends. In the case of globalization, the pandemic will not reverse it, but it will reshape it. Here we take a bird’s eye view of global trade during the pandemic, relate it to previous trends, and guess how global value chain managers and government trade policymakers are likely to react. A Bird’s Eye View of Global Trade during the Pandemic World trade took a deep dive during ...
  • Download PDF
    A Water-Energy-Food Nexus approach for conducting trade-off analysis: Morocco's phosphate industry in the Khouribga region
    Authors
    Sang-Hyun Lee
    Amjad T. Assi
    Bassel Daher
    Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub
    Rabi Mohtar
    October 5, 2020
    Our Senior Fellow Rabi Mohtar has co-authored with our economist, Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub along other researchers a research paper entitled « A Water-Energy-Food Nexus approach for conducting trade-off analysis: Morocco’s phosphate industry in the Khouribga region » in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Journal (Volume 24, Issue 10). The study objective was to develop and use the Water-Energy-Food Nexus Phosphate (WEF-P) Tool to evaluate the impact of Morocco’s phosphate industry ...
  • Download PDF
    L'or : l'actif refuge des temps difficiles
    Authors
    Henri-Louis Vedie
    September 18, 2020
    On assiste, ces derniers mois, à un rebond des cours de l'or, le portant vers de nouveaux sommets. L'analyse des cours de ce précieux métal depuis deux siècles montre une grande stabilité jusqu'en 1971, date de l'abandon de la convertibilité or /dollar par les Etats-Unis, mais aussi de son mouvement erratique depuis cette date. Soumise aux lois du marché, cette matière première voit son cours dépendre essentiellement de la demande. Evolution qui confirme cet actif comme valeur refug ...
  • Download PDF
    Coronavirus: a new disaster to be expected for the oil-producing countries of the Gulf of Guinea
    Authors
    Benjamin Augé
    May 17, 2020
    The coronavirus epidemic is weakening even further the economies of the Gulf of Guinea, which have already been particularly undermined by an oil sector that has been in crisis for several years. The rapid fall in oil prices will once again put a strain on systems that fail to reinvent and diversify themselves in order to protect themselves from the shortcomings often seen in windfall economies. In addition to the economic impact, it is likely to see the potential security and polit ...