SEO Riders:
– AUDA‑NEPAD launches Africa’s Integrity & Equity Principles and coordination platform at Pan-African dialogue.
– New framework ensures carbon markets deliver high-integrity climate action with social inclusion and community benefits.
– Platform to align member states, streamline standards and prepare policy launch at Africa Climate Summit in September.
Africa is taking a bold step to shape its carbon market future. On 31 July 2025, the African Union Development Agency (AUDA‑NEPAD) unveiled a first-of-its-kind set of Integrity & Equity Principles alongside a new continental coordination platform designed to strengthen African participation in global carbon markets. The announcement was made during a high-level dialogue co-hosted with the Government of Kenya and Afreximbank, drawing representatives from nations including Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, and the DRC. Support from the UK, which seconded a climate expert to AUDA‑NEPAD, underscores the political and technical backing behind the initiative.
The framework emphasizes the importance of social value and equitable benefit-sharing, ensuring that carbon market revenue reaches local communities, smallholder farmers, and underrepresented groups. It commits to harmonizing standards across African Union members, offering support on regulation, MRV systems, and investor engagement—setting the stage for the launch of a draft “African Gold Standard” to be presented at Africa Climate Summit 2 (ACS‑2) in Addis Ababa this September. The platform aims to catalyze investment, enhance policy alignment, and position Africa as a solutions provider in global carbon finance.
By providing unified governance, robust quality safeguards, and equity-driven market architecture, the initiative aligns with broader continental strategies like the Africa Climate Markets Initiative (ACMI) and FSD Africa’s CAPE programme, all aimed at scaling high-integrity nature-based projects and unlocking climate finance.
