Category: Uncategorized

Last year's carbon market downturn as a result of integrity concerns particularly impacted REDD+ and cookstove projects in Africa, which make up about 90% of its supply. If African countries really want to see a high integrity market that benefits local economies, they need to be working more closely with voluntary regional bodies and intiatives that seek to champion market reforms.

We spoke with Bhekumuzi Dean Bhebhe, a Campaigns Lead at Power Shift Africa and Co-facilitator at Don’t Gas Africa about his work relating to fossil fuels and renewable energy in Africa. He shares his views on fossil fuel lock-ins, their hidden costs and the continent’s potential.

African women are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Investing in resilience building and adaptation initiatives that prioritise the empowerment and security of women will benefit wider communities and contribute to the sustainable development agenda.

Hopes were high that the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference that ended on 2 March, would address climate change and trade, including measures like the CBAM. However, like COP28, countries could not agree to its inclusion, with India blocking discussions on what it considered to be a “non-trade issue”.

Last month, countries could not agree on whether to accelerate the pre-2028 delivery dates for the IPCC’s upcoming reports on the latest climate science. African countries will, however, welcome the decision to update the IPCC’s technical adaptation guideline, however the decision to not provide a special report on loss and damage will only frustrate efforts to progress loss and damage finance.

Malawi and Kenya are both seeking to firm up their domestic policy on carbon markets, with a focus on ensuring more benefits for communities. Echoing Zimbabwe, Malawi has stated an intention to revisit existing contracts, while Kenya is looking to devise a more detailed set of rules on benefit sharing, governance and legal processes.

The South Africa government has called the EU’s CBAM “policy coercive” and a threat to a “delicate national consensus”, as it imposes climate mitigation policy onto developing countries and hinders the country’s independence to create policy in this space.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has announced the removal of a 50 year long petrol subsidy, a move which may incentivise renewable energy technologies in an economy heavily reliant on diesel generators. Angola recently made a similar announcement. But will it stick as given past experience and as domestic fuel costs rise?

A Kenyan county governor has made a bold move to revoke existing carbon credit contracts, similar to what happened in Zimbabwe a few weeks ago. The statements follow a push to develop more domestic regulations and guidelines to govern carbon credit activity on the continent.