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Global Carbon Council (GCC), an international carbon credit and sustainable development program based in the Global South, and the West African Alliance on Carbon Markets and Climate Finance (WAA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to accelerate the implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and promote carbon market instruments across West Africa, supporting regional ambitions to decarbonize.

The WAA is a sub-regional alliance of 16 West African countries, which was established to help West African countries participate in international carbon markets, benefit from technology transfer and access results-based climate finance for NDC implementation. Its membership is made up of Benin, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Republic of Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Liberia, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Togo and Mauritania.

The official signing ceremony took place on Monday at GCC’s Blue Zone Pavilion during the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in the UAE.

The agreement will see GCC help WAA member nations develop the necessary infrastructure and policy frameworks to ensure the smooth roll-out of both voluntary and Article 6 carbon markets. WAA will benefit from GCC’s readily usable GHG standard for the issuance of high-quality voluntary and Article 6.2 carbon credits and its members will also be able to use GCC’s carbon registry to meet Article 6 requirements related to interoperable registries.

The partnership will see GCC and WAA work together to expand voluntary and Article 6.2 carbon markets throughout West Africa and support WAA member nations on the issuance of Internationally Transferable Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement. As well as supporting West African countries on all areas of Article 6.2 operationalization, the pair will also support WAA member nations connect to GCC’s independent carbon registries.

Furthermore, the two organizations will collaborate on capacity building workshops and training programs for internal and external stakeholders including government and private sector organizations on project development, third-party validation and verification capacity in the region.

Dr. Yousef Alhorr, Founding Chairman of GCC, said: “We’re looking forward to applying GCC’s vast carbon market and climate finance expertise to help West African nations develop the necessary infrastructure and policy frameworks to meet their NDCs and accelerate the implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. This collaboration gives us the opportunity to empower WAA’s 16 member nations to build resilience by leveraging carbon markets, building further low-carbon pathways across West Africa and driving meaningful change across the region.

This, along with the other agreements and initiatives we have announced at COP28 will not only boost finance for NDCs and national development plans but will also help the implementation of Article 6 across the globe and accelerate the low carbon transition.”

Ousmane Fall Sarr, Coordinator at WAA, said: “WAA member countries are in dire need of capacity building, regulatory frameworks for carbon markets and infrastructure to catalyze critical carbon finance under voluntary and Article 6 carbon markets. Through this collaboration with GCC, we look forward to developing international best practices to roll out carbon markets in these countries.”

GCC has had a busy and successful COP. Last week, alongside its parent group, the Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (GORD), GCC launched a new Climate Action Center of Excellence to accelerate the implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement along with a raft of new carbon market initiatives to support global ambitions to decarbonize. The Center will provide a comprehensive package of high-impact solutions to support governments and the private sector to curb emissions and advance the SDGs, while also providing countries with technical assistance to enter carbon markets, facilitate the reduction and removal of emissions, mobilize climate finance, provide value for money for investors, and generate new projects.

GCC also signed an agreement with Global Environmental Markets to acquire the Global Carbon Registry® (GCR) which will provide an innovative multi-purpose registry solution. The GCR will become GCC’s new registry for the issuance, transfer and retirement of GCC carbon credits. GCR is also designed to be a potential end-to-end solution for countries and nations looking to host their article 6.2 credits.

On top of this, GCC also signed an MoU with the Kenya Climate Innovation Center (KCIC), a prominent social impact organization dedicated to addressing climate challenges through innovation and supporting micro and small enterprises, to promote and accelerate the growth of carbon markets in Kenya and other African nation. The collaboration will focus on supporting local activities related to the activation and operationalization of Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement and the promotion of the Voluntary Carbon Markets in the region.