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The multifaceted impacts of climate change and its devastating effects continue to be amplified each year, setting new records for heat waves, droughts, and extreme weather events. These impacts are compounded in regions of the world that are highly vulnerable to extreme weather events but have minimal to no preparedness or resources to mitigate, adapt, and recover from the risks of a changing climate onto their economies, the health and well-being of their citizens, livelihoods, and even their peace and security. Many African countries fall into this category.

African countries have been pleading with the world's high polluters to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help for just compensation that will allow them to reduce their vulnerabilities through climate financing. According to some estimates, an additional investment of $2.4 trillion is required in the next 6 years up to 2030 to meet Africa's climate needs. So far, even with the proliferation of different climate funds and promises, only 12% of this funding has been met or committed.

Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCMs) as a form of climate finance have been around for some time. However, they are a relatively new entrant in the debate of how to close the climate financing gap and the gap between needed versus available financing, especially for vulnerable communities worldwide. Although not a new concept, VCMs have entered a renewed spotlight recently when, in November 2021, the 26th 麻豆APP Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow made progress on the conclusion of Article 6 rules of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

This StoryMap will explain the implications of these agreements for African countries, whether VCMs can generate the anticipated financing volumes and the different sectors that African countries can explore to maximize potential benefits. It presents a historical overview of carbon markets and briefly reviews lessons from previous mechanisms.

Through deep dives into the various sector-specific opportunities to generate carbon credits and using available VCM data, the story map illustrates how countries worldwide generate and participate in VCMs. Most importantly, this exercise will explore whether and to what extent voluntary carbon markets can contribute to mobilizing resources to reduce Africa's costs for energy access, promote sustainable food production and consumption, integrate climate adaptation in industry and transportation sectors, and mitigate climate vulnerability.

Data Source: Unless otherwise stated, maps and other data on voluntary carbon markets rely on data from Ivy S. So, Barbara K. Haya, and Micah Elias. (2023, May). Voluntary Registry Offsets Database v8, Berkeley Carbon Trading Project, University of California, Berkeley.

Please use the scrollbar and mouse to navigate pages and click to explore the interactive maps. The four-part series is also available as PDF downloads at the end of this page.

Explore the Interactive Story