The Africa Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI), led by a 13-member steering committee of African leaders, CEOs, and carbon credit experts, was launched at COP27 to support the growth of carbon credits production and create jobs in Africa.
ACMI announced a bold ambition for the continent to reach 300 million credits offered annually by 2030. This level of supplies would unlock US$6 billion in income and support 30 million jobs. By 2050, ACMI is targeting over 1.5 billion credits annually in Africa, leveraging over $120 billion and supporting over 110 million jobs.
ACMI’s ambition is for the growth of African voluntary carbon markets to:
Produce 300 million carbon credits annually by 2030, and 1.5 billion credits annually by 2050.
Unlock 6 billion in revenue by 2030 and over 120 billion by 2050.
Support 30 million jobs by 2030 and over 110 million jobs by 2050.
Distribute revenue equitably and transparently with local communities.
African nations including Kenya, Malawi, Gabon, Nigeria and Togo shared their commitments to collaborating with ACMI to scale up carbon credit production via voluntary carbon market activation plans.
The initiative was inaugurated at COP 27 in collaboration with The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), and the UN Economic Commission for Africa, with the support of the UN Climate Change High Level Champions — Mahmoud Mohieldin and Nigel Topping.
ACMI released Africa Carbon Markets Initiative, Roadmap report: Harnessing carbon markets for Africa at the initiative’s COP 27 launch event.
The report identifies 13 action programs to support the growth of voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) on the continent.
Though voluntary carbon markets are already growing quickly, retirements of African credits have grown by an average of 36 per cent annually over the past five years, aggressive action will be required to maintain this level of growth over the coming decades.
ACMI is working with major carbon credit buyers and financiers, such as Exchange Trading Group, Nando’s, and Standard Chartered, to set up an advance market commitment for hundreds of millions of dollars for high-integrity African carbon credits.
For example, mobilizing $500 million, at an average price of $10 per carbon credit, could support the development and delivery of at least 50 MtCO2e, which is equivalent to the total credits retired from Africa from 2010 through 2020.