By:
Nana Appiah Acquaye
London
Climate Action Week 2026 provided the African Union Development Agency–NEPAD
(AUDA-NEPAD) with a strategic platform to deepen partnerships and advance
Africa’s priorities in climate finance, carbon markets, and sustainable
development.
Across
a series of high-level engagements, AUDA-NEPAD reinforced Africa’s growing role
in shaping high-integrity carbon markets designed to mobilise investment,
strengthen climate resilience, and support long-term structural economic
transformation across the continent.
A
key highlight of the week was the presentation of the AUDA-NEPAD Validation and
Verification Body (VVB) Accelerator Programme. The initiative responds to a
critical gap in Africa’s carbon market ecosystem, namely the limited number of
accredited validation and verification bodies operating within the continent.
By
strengthening African technical capacity and expanding the pool of accredited
VVB institutions, the programme aims to reduce transaction costs, shorten
verification timelines, enhance market integrity, and enable African carbon
projects to access international markets more efficiently.
AUDA-NEPAD
also participated in discussions with the Coalition to Grow Carbon Markets,
where stakeholders examined strategies for scaling high-integrity markets
capable of delivering measurable climate outcomes while generating economic
opportunities, jobs, biodiversity protection, and community benefits. The
agency reiterated the need for African countries to move beyond being suppliers
of carbon credits and instead play a more active role in shaping global market
governance, standards, and architecture.
At
the World Bank policy crediting session, AUDA-NEPAD contributed to discussions
on mechanisms for rewarding governments that implement ambitious climate
policies. The dialogue explored how policy crediting could unlock new climate
finance streams for African countries by incentivising economy-wide emissions
reductions while supporting national development priorities, including energy
transition, sustainable agriculture, forestry, and industrial decarbonisation.
Further
engagements included participation in the FSD Africa Carbon Accelerator
Programme for Africa (CAPE), where discussions focused on strengthening market
infrastructure, improving investment readiness, and attracting greater private
sector participation in high-quality carbon projects across Africa.
AUDA-NEPAD
also held strategic discussions with the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity
Initiative (VCMI), focusing on collaboration to enhance governance frameworks,
transparency, and credibility within voluntary carbon markets, while building
institutional capacity across African systems.
