Africa’s rich natural resources present vast opportunities to drive climate action and sustainable development — but realizing that potential requires investment, transparency, and collaboration. From October 21 to 23, Johannesburg will host the Carbon Markets Africa Summit (CMAS), bringing together more than 280 policymakers, investors, and project developers from 40 countries to accelerate Africa’s participation in high-integrity carbon markets.
The landmark event, hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with AUDA-NEPAD as the strategic institutional partner and One Carbon World as the official climate impact partner, marks the first continental summit dedicated to unlocking Africa’s carbon value through integrity, investment, and impact.
“Carbon markets can unlock billions in finance for the continent,” said Maxwell Gomera, Resident Representative of UNDP South Africa and Director of the Africa Sustainable Finance Hub. “With the right partnerships and governance, Africa can convert its natural wealth into climate-resilient growth and jobs.”
Madeleine Garlick, Africa Director at One Carbon World, added: “African innovators are leading the market now, but with collaboration, we can achieve the scale needed to ensure it delivers for everybody.”
Turning Ambition into Action
Reflecting the summit’s collaborative theme, TASC, an award-winning developer of high-impact carbon projects, is serving as diamond sponsor, joined by FSD Africa, SGS, and Trees for the Future as gold sponsors, with GIZ and Carbon Coin as silver sponsors.
“Our projects are having a monumental impact at a grassroots level—all this enabled through carbon finance,” said Shelley Estcourt, CEO Africa at TASC.
Francesca Cerchia, Global Head of Climate Solutions at SGS, emphasized: “We need to make sure Africa is at the centre of voluntary carbon market development.”
Read Also: Türkiye to host GITEX Ai Türkiye 2026 in Istanbul
Tim McLennan, CEO of Trees for the Future, added: “Farmers are the most vulnerable to climate change; our mission is to assist them to restore land and unlock prosperity.”
Scaling Africa’s Solutions
With participation from nine African governments — including Comoros, DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda — and 14 innovative carbon projects, five of which are currently seeking investment, CMAS will showcase how African-led solutions are both local and transformative.
“The carbon economy is global, but its solutions are local,” said Chidalu Onyenso, Founder and CEO of Earthbond (Nigeria).
Nicole Dewing, Co-Founder of Africa Carbon & Commodities (Senegal), added: “High-integrity plastic credits can underwrite a circular economy where communities earn, oceans recover and investment delivers verifiable impact.”
Driving a Just Transition
The three-day summit will feature ministerial and investor roundtables, technical workshops, and sector dialogues highlighting Africa’s leadership in energy, cookstoves, blue carbon, nature-based solutions, and urban circularity.
Gabriel Labbate, Global Team Leader of the UN-REDD Programme (UNEP), noted: “Initiatives like the REDD+ Investments in Africa Roundtable at CMAS are crucial to bridging the gap between supply and demand and turning ambition into implementation.”
Daniel Okoth, Head of Carbon at SunCulture (Kenya), remarked: “We’re not just creating carbon credits—we’re creating climate-smart livelihoods.”
Marc Baker, Director of Carbon Tanzania, added: “We are at an inflection point in the carbon markets, with growth, increasing integrity and the emergence of Article 6.2 providing opportunities for scale.”
The Carbon Markets Africa Summit aims to turn Africa’s climate ambitions into measurable impact by connecting ideas, funding, and innovation — and positioning the continent as a major player in the global carbon economy.
