ECOWAS Seeks Regional Carbon Market To Close $294bn Climate Gap

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is developing a regional carbon market platform as it seeks to tackle a $294 billion climate finance gap and strengthen West Africa’s access to international carbon markets.

ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Dr. Kalilou Sylla, disclosed this at a regional workshop in Abuja to validate the framework for a West African carbon market platform.

Sylla, represented by ECOWAS Director for Environment and Natural Resources, Christophe Deguénon, said climate change could force about 32 million people in West Africa into internal displacement.

He said temperatures across the region were projected to rise by between 1.5 and three degrees Celsius by 2050, making collective action increasingly necessary.

According to him, the region has significant resources that could support the generation of high-quality carbon credits, including more than 350 million hectares of agricultural land, forests, mangroves and degraded landscapes.

“West Africa has the assets. It has over 350 million hectares of agricultural land, vast forests and mangroves, and huge potential to restore degraded landscapes,” he said.

Sylla, however, said the region remained under-represented in international carbon markets because of gaps in regulation, technical capacity, monitoring and certification.

He said the ECOWAS Regional Strategy for Access to and Mobilisation of Climate Finance, adopted in 2022, estimated the region’s climate financing needs at $294 billion.

He added that the gap had widened following the submission of NDCs 3.0, as member states increased their climate ambitions and their demand for large-scale climate finance grew.

“The regional strategy also identified the need to establish a regional framework for the operationalisation of Article 6 to help bridge the financing gap,” Sylla said.

He said ECOWAS began a regional process in 2024 to develop a harmonised framework for the platform, aligning it with ECOWAS Vision 2050 and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, said West Africa was bearing a disproportionate share of climate change impacts despite its minimal contribution to global emissions.

“Climate change continues to pose significant threats to our economies, ecosystems, food security, livelihoods and the well-being of our people. These shared challenges demand collective solutions,” Lawal said in a statement read by a director from his ministry.