Carbon markets are increasingly being recognized as an important instrument to reduce global emissions. EfD is conducting a comprehensive study on Exploring the potential and challenges of setting up a Voluntary Carbon Market in the Global South, with a focus on Africa.

The project involves several researchers and partners from the EfD network and beyond and is funded by the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

“This project is very important and very timely given the urgency to reduce carbon emissions, and more and more countries are looking at Voluntary Carbon Markets as a possible instrument to do this,” says Anjali Ramakrishnan, Project Coordinator.

The project covers a broad scope

The project encompasses Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, and ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States).

The project team will use several methods for analysis, including a literature review, stakeholder interviews, and detailed institutional analysis across the selected countries.

The outputs of the project will, among others, include policy reports, policy tools, peer-reviewed publications, and policy workshops. The project aims to improve the design of carbon markets, increase the capacity among governments in the Global South, research compliance of carbon markets, and provide guidance on how to set up institutions that support carbon markets.

The project spans 30 months, and the results of the first phase were presented and validated in a workshop in connection with EfD’s Annual Meeting in Nairobi in October 2024.

Since then, every country team has identified stakeholders and actors across the carbon market value chain in their country and they have had meetings with those stakeholders.

The project will be finalized in June 2026.