West African Alliance on Carbon Markets and Climate Finance

The implementation of ambitious NDCs of West African countries faces a large funding gap. In 2017, 16 countries have formed the “West African Alliance on Carbon Markets and Climate Finance” to jointly tackle issues relating to accessing carbon markets and climate finance for NDC implementation. Building on the Alliance’s successful start, the project seeks to deepen sub-regional cooperation and enhance in-country readiness for Article 6 implementation. The member participation in international negotiations on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement ensures that African priorities are reflected in the design of the new carbon market approaches. Furthermore, the inception of carbon market projects is supported by a platform for networking between strategic partners (e.g. financiers, project developers). The development of institutionalized regional cooperation structures will increase awareness, transfer knowledge and stimulate replication in the region.

Project data

Countries
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo
IKI funding
7,797,808.54 €
Duration
08/2020 till 07/2028
Status
open
Implementing organisation
West African Development Bank
Political Partner
  • Diverse climate change relevant institutions in the respective partner countries/Diverse klimarelevante Institutionen in den entsprechenden Partnerländern
Online
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State of implementation/results

  • The Alliance (WAA) is continuously providing tailored technical support and guidance for West African negotiators and Heads of Delegations (HoDs) to the UNFCCC to better participate in current negotiation processes on Article 6 and carbon markets. In this regard, the WAA also coordinates with negotiators of other UNFCCC constituencies (African Group of Negotiators (AGN) and Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group). As a result, the Alliance has become a trusted partner by national governments.
  • Alongside this, the Alliance provides clear guidance and understanding of Article 6 readiness and its implementation through the following activities:
    • In-country readiness support for West African countries has led to the development of Article 6 implementation roadmaps, country-specific legal briefs, readiness assessments, and stakeholder mappings, among other things.
    • In June 2024, the Alliance launched its redesigned website during the SB60 in Bonn. The new website acts as a strategic engagement tool and knowledge hub for West African countries and features several key enhancements, including dedicated pages for each member country, providing detailed information on national activities and initiatives related to carbon markets: westafricanalliance.org.
    • In June 2022, the report “Blueprint for Article 6 Readiness in member countries of the West African Alliance” was published. This Blueprint is designed to support the development of national Article 6 strategies for market-based cooperation and its implementation, primarily in member countries of the Alliance. The launch of the blueprint has tremendously showcased the added-value of the Alliance in terms of Article 6 technical support for the sub-region. In this perspective, the WAA was able to start its implementation with Liberia, among other countries.
    • In April 2021, the Alliance concluded a scooping study “Article 6 Readiness in West Africa” aimed at assessing the capacity and institutional needs of member countries in relation to Article 6 implementation readiness The scoping study supports host countries in navigating the new requirements of the Paris Agreement and jump-starting or progressing in-country Article 6 readiness. It provides information on the building blocks for Article 6 readiness from a host country perspective, as well as a readiness assessment for Article 6 readiness in the region. Based on the study outcomes, the Alliance has started developing a tailored support framework and a clear road map for incorporating Article 6.2 into NDC implementation with the aim of matching African carbon markets with interested ITMO buyers.
    • In 2020, four thematic working groups (carbon markets and pricing, transparency, climate finance and technology transfer) were established and led by Alliance country members they provide updates to alliance focal points on negotiations in their thematic fields and providing reports to Alliance members during SBs and COPs.
    • One of the main objectives of the Alliance is to create in each alliance country a national platform for practitioners. These national platforms will be the framework for continuous consultation and capacity building on Article 6 and its related issues. Currently, the Alliance is working with six member countries on this activity.
  • The WAA plays an instrumental role in supporting the formation of similar alliances in Africa:
    • The WAA acted as a blueprint for the formation of the East African Alliance on Carbon Markets and Climate Finance (EAA): with the support of the BMWK and in cooperation with the UNFCCC Regional Collaboration Center (RCC) Eastern and Southern Africa, the EAA was established in 2019 (easternafricaalliance.org). Both African alliances have become international role models.
    • The WAA also supports the potential establishment of a Central African Alliance with the Central African Development Bank (BDEAC) and the Caribbean Alliance with the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). The initiative of the Caribbean island states receives further support by the GIZ in its first steps as part of the Global Carbon Market project.
    • South-East Asian countries have also expressed great interest in regional cooperation. The Central African countries' requested the WAA for support for the creation and implementation of an Alliance on the carbon market and climate finance in Central Africa.
  • In cooperation with its partners, the Alliance organises or is actively involved in numerous events:
    • On the sidelines of COP29, the Alliance held a member meeting during which it reviewed the ongoing negotiations, discussed internal strategic matters such as the appointment of its new thematic working group leads and the conduction of a needs and gaps assessment with its members.
    • At COP29, the focal point of Côte d’Ivoire presented the country’s journey in establishing an institutional and regulatory framework for carbon mechanisms, highlighting the Alliance’s support.
    • In collaboration with the AGN Chair, Eastern African Alliance and Conservation International, the Alliance organized on November 10, 2024, a preparatory informal workshop of African negotiators on key technical issues under Article 6 ahead of COP29 in Baku.
    • Before COP29, the Alliance, the UNFCCC Regional Collaboration Centre for West and Central Africa (RCC WAC Africa) and the government of Cape Verde together hosted the Regional Dialogue on Carbon Pricing (REdiCAP) for West Africa (29. Oct. – 1. Nov. 2024). The a 4-day workshop brought together government officials, private sector leaders, and international agencies to deepen their understanding of Article 6 and carbon pricing, incl. establishing Article 6.4 Designated National Authorities (DNAs) and integrating Article 6 into countries NDCs.
    • In October 2024, the WAA convened a member meeting in Cabo Verde. This meeting, preceding the UNFCCC-RediCAP workshop, was an important moment to strengthen collaboration among member countries and key partners, and also served as a platform to discuss member participation in the upcoming COP29.
    • At COP28, insights and lessons learned of the West African Carbon Market Hub were explored during the transformative side event “WAA scaling up public and private capacity to deliver the Goals of the Paris Agreement”, organized in partnership with the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA).
    • At COP28, in collaboration with Evercity, WAA presented the West Africa Carbon Markets Accelerator Platform addressing project origination challenges in the region. The event aimed to gather West African countries to discuss the proposal, emphasizing key challenges such as financing gaps and barriers to project origination. Objectives include developing a comprehensive Climate Project Identification Facility and implementing a Digital Platform to support the Paris Agreement.
    • At COP28, the Alliance organized two coordination meetings (02 and 11 December) with the Alliance focal points to discuss and exchange viewpoints and strategic insights about the negotiations and how to support the alignment between LDCs and AGN on specific issues.
    • In addition, the Alliance had organized several technical workshops for Alliance members that couldn’t travel to unpack Article 6 outcomes of COP28.
    • In 2023, the Alliance inaugurated the West Africa Carbon Market Hub in Côte d´Ivoire (26-28 September). This initiative, which is a first of its kind in Africa, aims to create the sub-regional ecosystem needed to unlock the enormous potential of the West African carbon market. The conference brought together public and private sector stakeholders in the sub-region and was expertly organized by the WAA and the Business Partnership for Market Implementation (BPMI), as part of the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA).
    • At the Africa Climate Week side event “Accelerating Article 6 Readiness in African countries”, the WAA, the Eastern Africa Alliance on Carbon Markets, and the NDC Partnership brought together countries at different stages of Article 6 readiness to share insights from their current and planned activities regarding Article 6 implementation, including lessons learned from recent partner and regional south-south exchanges on Article 6 implementation (8 September 2023).
    • At COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt (2022) 16 Heads of Delegation to the COP representing Governments of the West African countries held the first Roundtable Forum with the WAA. The roundtable is envisaged as a long-term space for collective engagement between the Alliance and the sixteen Heads of States.
    • During the 5th Alliance Member Meeting in Lomé, Togo meeting (22-23 March 2022), Senegal and Ghana shared their experiences in setting up national Article 6 pilot projects and how to partner with potential ITMO buyers (i.e. KliK Fundation, Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) of Japan, etc.). In addition to Nigeria (green bonds), these two countries are valid examples from which the Article 6 blueprint of the Alliance will tap into during its implementation of Article 6 national platform for the Alliance country members.
    • After its first and successful roundtable (July 2020), the West- and East African Alliances together held the 2nd roundtable (April 2021). This platform between potential ITMO buyers (swiss Klik Foundation, Japans Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) etc.) and sellers (Alliance members such as Ghana) represented an opportunity to share experiences about the key lessons learned, challenges and success factors gathered from the existing experiences of setting up bilateral agreements between purchasing actors from private sectors and African countries.

Latest Update:
04/2025

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