The African Union (AU) and the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) have launched a program to equip African diplomats for what could become one of the continent’s largest climate‑finance opportunities, training over 80 ambassadors, senior diplomats and policy experts to secure a more influential African role in the rapidly expanding global carbon market.
The high‑level training, conducted at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, marks a pivotal step in implementing the Africa Action Plan on Carbon Markets, a 2025 AU Assembly resolution designed to deliver greater economic and environmental benefits from international carbon trading for African nations.
In a statement signed by Fatou Diouf, Head of Communications and Influencing at the African Capacity Building Foundation, the seminar was described as intended to bolster the technical and negotiating capabilities of African diplomats ahead of increasingly intricate international climate negotiations.
Speaking during the programme, AU Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, Moses Vilakati, underscored the need for Africa to adopt a coordinated continental strategy.
‘Our collective approach must continue to be guided by our continental frameworks,’ Vilakati said.
He stressed that strong governance, transparency, free, prior and informed consent, and legally enforceable benefit‑sharing mechanisms are essential to ensuring carbon markets generate tangible benefits for African countries and local communities rather than external investors alone.
Participants examined African‑led carbon‑credit projects, compared compliance and voluntary carbon markets, and reviewed international regulatory models — including the European Union’s Emissions Trading System — to identify best practices adaptable across the continent.
Discussions also focused on safeguarding community rights, ensuring environmental integrity and directing carbon revenues toward climate adaptation, sustainable development and local economic growth.
Special Adviser to the ACBF Executive Secretary and Head of the Foundation’s AU Liaison Office, Ambassador Laho Bangoura, said Africa must invest in human capacity to maximise emerging opportunities in climate finance.
‘As climate finance assumes a central role in Africa’s development agenda, capacity development must remain at the core of our response,’ Bangoura remarked.
Organisers noted that a more capable diplomatic corps would enable African countries to negotiate more effectively, present a unified voice, and secure fairer outcomes as global demand for high‑quality carbon credits continues to rise.
Carbon markets enable countries and companies to purchase and sell carbon credits generated by activities that reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions, including forest conservation, renewable energy projects and sustainable land management. Africa boasts vast sequestration potential across its forests, wetlands and renewable‑energy resources, yet it currently represents only a modest share of the global carbon market.
Experts contend that with stronger regulatory frameworks, improved governance and enhanced negotiating capacity, African nations could attract billions of dollars each year in climate finance while advancing environmental protection, job creation and sustainable development. The AU’s Action Plan aims to ensure that Africa is not merely a supplier of carbon credits but a principal beneficiary of the expanding global carbon economy.