Why an Africa Carbon Forum?

In November 2006, the United Nations Secretary General launched the Nairobi Framework with the aim to help developing countries, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa, to improve their level of participation in the clean development mechanism (CDM). Since then, Africa’s interest and involvement in the Clean Development Mechanism has grown, and with it so has the number of projects in Africa.
In December 2015, the international community achieved a resounding success crafting a new, universal climate change agreement at the COP21 in Paris. The Paris Agreement, along with all the financial pledges, investor’s guidelines, actions and initiatives announced during COP21, sets out a clear signal and framework for scaled up climate action, which now needs to be implemented.
The present moment marks the start of a new era for the Nairobi Framework and the Africa region as a whole, one that holds great challenges but also exciting, transformational opportunities driven by ambitious national action and increased international cooperation in the areas of finance, market-driven development approaches, technology transfer and capacity-building. The Nairobi Framework aims to capitalize on these opportunities by maximizing efficiency in the provision of support to developing countries in implementing their NDCs in the areas of climate finance technology transfer and capacity building for mitigation, through creation of an enabling environment at national level, regulatory mechanisms and carbon markets, including the CDM.
Under the overarching mandate of the Nairobi Framework, the ACF 2016 will provide a momentous opportunity and platform for African policymakers and practitioners to discuss the latest developments related to climate change policy, carbon markets and finance; share knowledge on innovative solutions in the context of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and other strategies; and to explore possibilities for collaboration on regional and global climate change initiatives.

The following timeline tells the story of Nairobi Framework’s evolution over the years to the present date:

2008, ACF 1 - Dakar, Senegal - In an effort to build growing interest on the CDM in Africa, the Nairobi Framework partners: the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the UNFCCC secretariat, the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) and the World Bank (WB) along with the World Bank Institute organized the first Africa Carbon Forum in Senegal.

2010, ACF 2 - Nairobi, Kenya - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) joined the Nairobi Framework

2011, ACF 3 - Marrakech, Morocco - Commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Marrakech Accords which kicked off the implementation of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

2012, ACF 4 - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2013, ACF 5 -  Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

2014, ACF 6 - Windhoek, Namibia

2015, ACF 7 - Marrakech, Morocco