The Emerging Regulatory Framework for Carbon Markets in Africa examines the evolving landscape of carbon markets across the continent, with a focus on both compliance and voluntary mechanisms. The study examines the historical development of carbon credits, their application in Africa, and the role of key stakeholders, including project developers, credit buyers and sellers, and verification bodies.
Carbon markets are growing across Africa, but without equity, transparency, and legal safeguards, they risk harming communities and undermining climate goals. Given this background, the objective of this report is to provide a critical analysis of current carbon credit frameworks in select African countries, advocating for stronger regulation, inclusive participation, and community-centred benefit-sharing.
A key challenge identified is the weak regulatory framework governing voluntary carbon markets in Africa, which can lead to potential human rights injustices and ethical concerns. The study highlights barriers to scaling carbon markets, including transparency issues, governance inefficiencies, and financial accessibility challenges. This highlights the strong need for legal reforms, litigation, capacity-building, and community education to ensure carbon markets promote justice rather than perpetuate exploitation.
Through a comparative analysis of regulatory approaches across selected African jurisdictions, including Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Africa, the research evaluates existing institutional frameworks, dispute resolution mechanisms, and the integration of justice principles into regulatory policies.
The report also outlines persistent concerns regarding the equitable distribution of benefits and the protection of land rights, as well as community participation in these markets.
The report makes the argument that the weak regulatory frameworks in Africa necessitate the development of a more “just” regulatory framework. The report defines what a just regulatory framework entails and incorporates this definition into its assessment of existing regulatory frameworks across several African jurisdictions to determine whether they embody this “just element.”
