Carbon Pricing in Africa Webinar Series: Carbon Pricing 101

About the webinar

Evidence suggests that an economical way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is through the use of carbon pricing instruments. Explicit carbon pricing mechanisms fall into three categories: cap & trade, carbon tax or a hybrid of both elements. Each mechanism has strengths and weaknesses. This webinar will introduce the basic concepts of carbon pricing, including carbon taxes and cap-and-trade programs, the benefits and design of pricing policies, as well as experiences and learnings from the African context.

About the webinar series

Many African countries are discussing the value of carbon pricing and carbon markets and how these tools could benefit the continent and further climate action. The Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement demonstrate that most African governments intend to use international markets in some form to help finance their mitigation efforts (IETA, 2016). Overall, around 34 African countries have made a reference to market mechanisms in their NDCs as part of their mitigation activities. Yet, there has been limited use of explicit carbon pricing instruments in Africa to-date, especially in comparison to other regions. By building on existing initiatives such as the West African Carbon Market Alliance and the ongoing work in the regional power pools, the CPLC will convene and engage stakeholders in activities at the regional and national level to enhance awareness of opportunities to price carbon, identify priorities for capacity building, recognize required actions to introduce carbon pricing, and strengthen networks and partnerships to implement these actions. To this end, the Africa webinar series aims to support knowledge sharing and strengthen capacity building to enable CPLC partners to understand, collaborate and develop the most suitable carbon pricing mechanisms in the African context. The series will help tackle questions that focus on why Africa should price carbon and how carbon pricing is good for development, aside from mitigation benefits. These efforts aim to enable broader consideration of carbon pricing as part of the NDCs and sustainable development strategies.