The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has intensified efforts to establish a regional carbon market platform that could help the region tackle its growing climate-finance needs and unlock billions of dollars in investment.
The initiative came into focus in Abuja on Wednesday as ECOWAS began a three-day workshop to validate the proposed framework for the platform.
The meeting brought together representatives of ECOWAS member states, regional and international institutions, climate experts, development partners and financial organisations to examine the proposed framework and prepare it for adoption.
Representing the ECOWAS Commission leadership, the Director for Environment and Natural Resources, Christophe Deguenon, said the initiative had become increasingly urgent as West Africa faced mounting climate pressures.
He conveyed the greetings of ECOWAS Commission President Omar Alieu Touray and Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Kalilou Sylla, while appreciating Nigeria’s continued support for regional climate initiatives.
Deguenon said rising temperatures, environmental degradation and climate-induced displacement were already threatening livelihoods, food security and economic development across West Africa.
Projections presented by ECOWAS, based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments, indicate that temperatures across the region could increase by between 1.5°C and 3°C by 2050.
The World Bank, according to the Commission, has also estimated that climate impacts could force nearly 32 million people into internal displacement.
As countries strengthen their climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, however, the financial resources required to implement those commitments are also increasing.
ECOWAS had estimated in its 2022 Regional Strategy for Access to and Mobilization of Climate Finance that West Africa required about $294 billion to meet the conditional climate-financing needs contained in member states’ second-generation Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
The figure has since increased following the submission of the latest NDC 3.0 commitments.
“Four years later, with the submission of NDCs 3.0, these needs have significantly increased, ” he said.
The ECOWAS Commission identified the operationalisation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement as one potential avenue for closing the region’s climate-finance gap.
Through carbon markets, West African countries could attract additional financing by monetising verified emissions reductions and other environmental benefits generated through climate projects.
The region possessed substantial natural resources that could support the production of high-integrity carbon credits.
These include more than 350 million hectares of agricultural land, extensive forests and mangrove ecosystems, as well as large areas with potential for ecological restoration.
Despite that potential, ECOWAS said West Africa remains underrepresented in international carbon markets.
Regulatory gaps, limited technical expertise, inadequate monitoring and tracking systems and difficulties around certification have continued to restrict the region’s participation.
The Commission began developing a harmonised regional carbon-market framework in 2024 in response to these challenges.
The proposed platform is aligned with the ECOWAS Vision 2050 and the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and is expected to provide a common structure for countries seeking to participate more effectively in international carbon markets.
The framework is built around four broad principles: transparency, environmental integrity, inclusive governance and recognition of member states’ climate efforts.
ECOWAS believes a regional approach could allow countries to pool technical expertise, share experience, reduce transaction costs and strengthen their collective position when dealing with international carbon-market investors.
Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, described the initiative as timely and strategically important, saying climate change posed serious threats to the region’s economies, ecosystems, food systems and livelihoods.
The minister, represented at the workshop by a director in the ministry, Iniagbon Abiola-Awe, said Nigeria was prepared to work with ECOWAS member states and development partners to turn the proposed platform into a functional mechanism capable of delivering practical benefits.
Lawal disclosed that Nigeria had launched its Carbon Market Framework at COP30, while work was ongoing on a national carbon-market registry.
He said a regional platform would complement national efforts by facilitating information sharing, peer learning and the promotion of West Africa’s carbon-market opportunities.
According to him, an effective regional carbon market could help attract climate investment, encourage nature-based solutions, increase private-sector participation and generate green employment.
The Abuja workshop is expected to subject the draft framework to detailed technical and legal scrutiny before it is adopted.
The draft was prepared by consulting firm AETS, with support from partners including BDO Carbon and S&P Global, while the Commission also acknowledged contributions from engagements held in Paris and at United Nations climate conferences in Dubai and Baku.
The ECOWAS representative urged participants to approach the discussions with a spirit of consensus and regional cooperation.
He stressed that the proposed platform should be viewed not simply as another institutional structure, but as a mechanism for strengthening West Africa’s collective capacity to participate in the global carbon economy.
ECOWAS is hoping the workshop will produce a “solid, consensual and sufficiently ambitious” framework capable of attracting investors and supporting the climate objectives of member states.
The exercise 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.
For West Africa, the proposed platform could mark a significant shift—from being primarily vulnerable to the effects of climate change to becoming a more active participant in the emerging global carbon economy.
