The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has intensified efforts to establish a regional carbon market platform as the bloc seeks to bridge a projected $294 billion climate-finance gap and unlock West Africa’s growing potential in international carbon markets.
The initiative took centre stage in Abuja on Wednesday at a three-day regional workshop convened to validate the proposed framework for the platform, with representatives of ECOWAS Member States, regional and international organisations, technical and financial partners, and climate experts in attendance.
Speaking on behalf of the ECOWAS Commission leadership, the Director for Environment and Natural Resources, Christophe Deguenon, conveyed greetings from the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, and the Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Kalilou Sylla.
Deguenon also expressed the Commission’s appreciation to Nigeria for its continued support for regional climate initiatives, stressing the urgency of strengthening climate-finance mechanisms as West Africa confronts mounting environmental and socioeconomic pressures.
He said rising temperatures, climate-induced displacement and environmental degradation were increasingly threatening livelihoods, food security and economic development across the region.
According to the ECOWAS presentation, temperatures across West Africa could rise by between 1.5°C and 3°C by 2050, based on projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The World Bank, it added, estimates that nearly 32 million people could be internally displaced as a result of climate impacts.
The Commission noted that ECOWAS Member States had responded to the crisis by adopting Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement and progressively raising their climate-mitigation ambitions.
However, the growing ambition has also widened the financing requirements needed to implement the commitments.
Deguenon disclosed that the ECOWAS Regional Strategy for Access to and Mobilization of Climate Finance, adopted in 2022, estimated the region’s climate-financing needs at $294 billion, based on the conditional requirements contained in Member States’ second-generation NDCs.
“Four years later, with the submission of NDCs 3.0, these needs have significantly increased,” he said, attributing the rise to stronger national climate ambitions and the growing urgency to mobilise climate finance at scale.
The regional strategy identified the establishment of a framework for operationalising Article 6 of the Paris Agreement as one of the key mechanisms for addressing the financing deficit.
The proposed framework is expected to enable West African countries to leverage their natural and environmental assets through carbon markets while attracting additional investment for climate action.
ECOWAS said the region possesses substantial natural capital capable of generating high-integrity environmental and social carbon credits, including more than 350 million hectares of agricultural land, major forest blocks, mangrove ecosystems and extensive opportunities for restoring degraded landscapes.
Despite this potential, the Commission acknowledged that West Africa remains underrepresented in international carbon markets.
Regulatory weaknesses, inadequate technical capacity, limited carbon-tracking systems and certification challenges were identified as major constraints to the region’s participation in the global carbon economy.
Against this backdrop, the ECOWAS Commission began an ambitious regional process in 2024 to develop a harmonised framework for establishing a regional carbon market platform.
The initiative is aligned with the ECOWAS Vision 2050 and the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and is anchored on four key principles: transparency, environmental integrity, inclusive governance and appropriate valuation of Member States’ climate efforts.
Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, described the initiative as timely and strategic, noting that climate change posed serious threats to West Africa’s economies, ecosystems, food security and livelihoods.
Lawal, who was represented by a director in the ministry, Mrs Iniagbon Abiola-Awe, reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to working with ECOWAS Member States and development partners to transform the proposed platform into a practical mechanism capable of delivering tangible benefits across the region.
He disclosed that Nigeria launched its Carbon Market Framework at COP30, while work was ongoing on the development of its national carbon-market registry.
According to the minister, a regional platform would complement national carbon-market initiatives by facilitating information-sharing, peer-to-peer learning and the promotion of West Africa’s carbon-market potential.
He said an effectively designed regional carbon market could help Member States attract climate investment, promote nature-based solutions, expand private-sector participation and create green jobs.
The Abuja workshop is expected to subject the draft regional framework to detailed technical and legal scrutiny before its eventual adoption.
The ECOWAS Commission challenged participating experts and Member States to strengthen the framework and ensure that it provides a credible, transparent and investor-friendly mechanism capable of supporting national climate ambitions.
The Commission disclosed that the draft framework was developed by consulting firm AETS, with support from partners including BDO Carbon and S&P Global, among others. It also acknowledged contributions from carbon-market engagements in Paris and United Nations climate conferences in Dubai and Baku.
ECOWAS stressed that the proposed platform should not be regarded merely as another regional institution, but as a mechanism for deeper cooperation that would pool expertise, reduce transaction costs, strengthen national capacities and improve West Africa’s visibility in international carbon markets.
The Commission urged participants to prioritise dialogue, consensus-building and the broader interests of the region in finalising the framework.
It expressed confidence that the workshop would produce a “solid, consensual and sufficiently ambitious” framework capable of ushering in a new phase of climate-finance mobilisation across West Africa.
For Nigeria and other ECOWAS Member States, the initiative offers an opportunity to shift the region’s position from being predominantly vulnerable to climate change to becoming a significant player in the emerging global carbon economy.
The workshop is expected to conclude with validation of the framework, incorporation of technical and legal recommendations, approval of governance arrangements and adoption of a regional implementation roadmap.
