The 7th Africa Carbon Forum will take place in Morocco to discuss and consult the African countries’ Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). Ministers from these countries will meet from April 13-15 to also explore opportunities for low-carbon development. INDCs are voluntary country-specific climate actions required to be submitted well in advance before the Paris summit.
Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said, “A visionary agreement in Paris can, in concert with an inspirational suite of sustainable development goals, assist in further unlocking Africa’s inordinate potential for clean, green, low-carbon development.” She recognised the vital role that the Carbon Forum can play towards this end.
The forum, which supports Africa’s access to green investment, will discuss trends in the international carbon market and look for strategies and models that can fast track the finance and mechanisms needed to realise these aims. Other items for discussion include finance and project opportunities from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and opportunities in result-based financing.
The Africa Carbon Forum is organised by UNFCCC, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), along with UNEP-DTU Partnership, World Bank (WB), African Development Bank (AfDB) and International Emissions Trading Association (IETA). The forum takes place under the umbrella of the Nairobi Framework, which was launched in 2006 by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The aim of the forum was to assist developing countries, especially those in sub–Saharan Africa, to improve their level of participation in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).