The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) says it is developing a regional carbon market platform to help member states attract climate finance and increase their participation in international carbon markets. ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Kalilou Sylla, who gave the disclosure at a regional workshop to validate the framework for establishing the West African carbon market platform, said the proposed platform would create a harmonised framework for countries in the region to generate and trade high integrity carbon credits.
Sylla said the initiative was particularly important as West Africa faces a widening climate financing gap, with the region estimated to require $294 billion to meet its climate needs. Represented by ECOWAS director of Environment and Natural Resources, Christophe Deguénon, the commissioner said West Africa had significant potential to generate carbon credits but remains underrepresented in international carbon markets. “One clear pathway is Article 6 and carbon markets.
West Africa has the assets. It has over 350 million hectares of agricultural land, vast forests and mangroves, and huge potential to restore degraded landscapes. “We can generate high integrity carbon credits. Yet we remain under-represented in international carbon markets due to gaps in regulation, technical capacity, monitoring and certification,” Sylla said.
He said regulatory weaknesses, inadequate technical capacity, poor tracking systems and certification challenges had limited the region’s ability to benefit from carbon markets. The commissioner said ECOWAS began the regional process in 2024 in line with the ECOWAS Vision 2050 and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
According to him, the proposed platform is built around four principles of transparency, environmental integrity, inclusive governance and valuation of member states’ climate efforts. Sylla said the regional strategy for access to and mobilisation of climate finance, adopted in 2022, identified the establishment of a regional framework for the operationalisation of Article 6 as a way to help bridge the financing gap. “This framework aims to leverage the region’s massive potential through carbon markets,” he said.
Article 6 of the Paris Agreement provides mechanisms through which countries can cooperate to achieve their climate targets, including through the transfer of internationally traded mitigation outcomes. Sylla said West African countries had adopted nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to help limit global temperature increases to 1.5°C, but meeting the targets would require significant financial resources.
He added that the financing gap had widened following the submission of NDCs 3.0, as member states raised their climate ambitions. The commissioner urged participants at the workshop to scrutinise and validate the draft framework to ensure that the proposed platform was credible, transparent and attractive to investors.
He said climate change remains one of the biggest challenges facing the region, with temperatures projected to rise by between 1.5°C and 3°C by 2050. Sylla also cited World Bank estimates that nearly 32 million West Africans could be forced into internal displacement as a result of climate impacts. Speaking at the workshop, Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal expressed support for the proposed regional carbon market.
Lawal, represented by a director in the ministry, Iniagbon Abiola-Awe, said West Africa remains highly vulnerable to climate change despite contributing relatively little to global greenhouse gas emissions. He said the platform could strengthen the capacity of member states to attract climate investments and support nature-based solutions.
“Nigeria strongly believes that a well-designed regional carbon market platform can strengthen the capacity of member states to attract climate investments and support nature-based solutions,” Lawal said. The minister said Nigeria is committed to working with ECOWAS, member states and development partners to ensure that the initiative translates into practical action and delivers benefits to citizens and national economies.
