Carbon trading in Africa Brief

The document critiques the application of carbon trading in Africa, asserting that the continent remains marginal to the global market. It highlights how the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) creates perverse incentives, such as rewarding illegal gas flaring in Nigeria or subsidising fossil fuel dependence, while providing minimal financial benefit to local communities. The author argues that carbon offsets act as an 'avoided responsibility mechanism' for the global North and recommends shifting toward more just forms of climate finance.

• Africa is largely marginal to the global carbon market, with a disproportionate amount of its credits originating from a single industrial site. In 2010, the Abu Qir fertiliser factory in Egypt generated more offsets than the rest of the continent combined, yielding an estimated US$25 million profit.
• The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is described as an 'avoided responsibility mechanism' that allows industrialised countries to delay reducing emissions at the source by purchasing credits from the global South.
• Carbon offsetting in Africa often creates perverse incentives that lock in fossil fuel dependence. In the Niger Delta, projects claiming to stop gas flaring may reward companies for activities already ruled illegal by the Nigerian High Court and may actually subsidise the expansion of fossil fuel exploitation.
• The financial benefits of carbon credits for small-scale African farmers are negligible due to high transaction costs. In the Kenyan Agricultural Carbon Project, over $1 million of the anticipated $2.5 million in credits is expected to go toward transaction costs, leaving farmers with approximately $1 per year.
• The REDD+ framework poses risks of land grabbing and dispossession of Indigenous Peoples and forest-based communities due to a lack of formal land titles and the inclusion of monoculture plantations in the definition of forests.
• Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) eligibility in the CDM is viewed as a stimulus for the oil industry, as the technology is largely derived from 'enhanced oil recovery' used to extract more oil from aging fields.
• The World Bank is the primary promoter of CDM projects in Africa, but its investments often target landfill gas-recovery projects that would be illegal under European Union waste management rules.
• The document concludes that the global carbon market is in crisis, with falling credit prices and a surplus of permits in the EU ETS, making the push for Africa's inclusion in these markets misguided.

APA

Redman, J., Reyes, O., Reddy, T., Mwenda, M., & Maynard, M. (2012). Carbon trading in Africa Brief. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ISS_PACJABrief.pdf

Chicago

Redman, Janet, Oscar Reyes, Trusha Reddy, Mithika Mwenda, and Michele Maynard. Carbon trading in Africa Brief. Institute for Security Studies, 2012. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ISS_PACJABrief.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Redman |first1=Janet |last2=Reyes |first2=Oscar |last3=Reddy |first3=Trusha |last4=Mwenda |first4=Mithika |last5=Maynard |first5=Michele |title=Carbon trading in Africa Brief |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=March 2012 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ISS_PACJABrief.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{redman2012carbon, author = {Redman, Janet and Reyes, Oscar and Reddy, Trusha and Mwenda, Mithika and Maynard, Michele}, title = {{Carbon trading in Africa Brief}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2012}, month = mar, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ISS_PACJABrief.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }