Climate: ECOWAS turns to regional carbon market to address $294 billion financing gap
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is stepping up efforts to establish a regional carbon market platform as the region faces an estimated $294 billion in climate financing needs.
Representatives from member states, regional and international institutions, development partners and technical experts met in Abuja for a three-day workshop focused on validating the framework for the proposed platform. The initiative aims to create a credible, transparent and inclusive mechanism to improve West Africa’s access to climate finance.
According to ECOWAS’ Regional Strategy on Access to and Mobilization of Climate Finance, adopted in 2022, the region’s climate financing needs are estimated at around $294 billion. The amount could rise as member states strengthen their climate commitments and update their nationally determined contributions.
ECOWAS sees carbon markets and the implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement as potential tools to help narrow the financing gap. Article 6 provides a framework for countries to cooperate in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including through certain carbon-credit trading mechanisms.
The ECOWAS initiative seeks to address the fragmentation of existing national carbon-market frameworks by establishing a common regional approach.
The proposed platform is expected to help harmonize rules, strengthen technical capacity, improve transparency and environmental integrity, reduce transaction costs and facilitate access for West African projects to international carbon markets.
Christophe Deguenon, ECOWAS Director of Environment and Natural Resources, stressed that West Africa’s growing vulnerability to climate change and increasing financing requirements make it necessary to explore new sources of funding at scale.
The region has significant natural assets that could generate carbon credits, including forests, agricultural land, mangroves and other ecosystems capable of absorbing and storing carbon.
ECOWAS has been working since 2024 to establish a harmonized regional framework for carbon markets. The initiative is also intended to strengthen investor confidence and allow member states to pool technical expertise.
In Nigeria, which hosted the Abuja workshop, Dr. Iniobong Abiola-Awe, Director of the Climate Change Department at the Federal Ministry of Environment, described the initiative as an opportunity to mobilize climate finance, support emissions reductions, promote nature-based solutions and attract greater private-sector investment.
Nigeria has already developed a national framework for its carbon market and is working on a national carbon registry. The proposed regional platform would allow countries to share experience and improve coordination between national carbon markets.
The $294 billion figure requires an important clarification.
It does not represent the amount ECOWAS expects to generate directly through carbon-credit sales. Rather, it refers to the estimated climate financing needs of the region to implement its climate commitments.
The carbon market is being considered as one of several instruments that could help mobilize part of the resources required and attract additional private capital. ECOWAS is therefore not projecting that the regional carbon platform itself will generate $294 billion.
The Abuja discussions cover the scope of the proposed platform, its technical architecture, the potential creation of a regional carbon registry and mechanisms for carbon-market transactions.
The workshop is expected to contribute to the validation of the framework and the development of a roadmap outlining the next steps, as well as the roles and responsibilities of national and regional stakeholders.
For ECOWAS, a harmonized regional carbon market could help West Africa better leverage its natural capital, expand access to international carbon markets and mobilize additional funding for climate adaptation and mitigation.
