Last December, in a remote Rwandan village, I met Mukandori, a single mother of four. Her words, born from hardship yet imbued with hope, have stayed with me. “These biogas systems gave me dignity,” she shared, standing proudly beside her clean kitchen. ALSO READ: Rwanda to mobilise finance for 19 carbon market-ready projects “I feel beautiful. Cooking used to be a nightmare; smoke everywhere, coughing, dusty floors. Now, it’s a joy”. Mukandori’s story is more than biogas. It reflects the transformational power of clean energy. Studies show that clean cooking solutions drastically cut harmful smoke, reduce emissions, and save women up to 102 hours annually, time otherwise spent collecting firewood. “Technology restored our hope,” Mukandori said. Yet access remains painfully unequal. ALSO READ: Rwanda explores biogas from wastewater to power schools This gap is not about technology alone, it’s about finance, priorities and political will. Only a fraction of global climate finance reaches Africa. In 2021–22, private climate finance made up just 18% of the continental total climate finance flows, lower than any other region. The continent receives less than a quarter of its estimated annual climate finance needs to deal with the extensive impacts of climate change, from the extreme floods in South Africa’s Eastern Cape this June to relentless droughts in the Horn of Africa. ALSO READ: Kagame calls for sufficient climate finance for Africa The carbon markets can help bridge this gap if governed fairly and designed inclusively. They can fund education, restore ecosystems, and unlock economic opportunity. But today, they fall short of their promise. Africa holds immense potential for carbon removal from the atmosphere and emissions avoidance: from forests and regenerative agriculture to solar, geothermal, and hydropower. Heavy carbon emitters are willing to invest in projects that reduce emissions to offset their own. Yet between 2016 and 2021, only about 11% of total carbon credits issued globally came from African nations. ALSO READ: Unlocking Africa’s economic potential through digital and climate finance This is not new. For decades, Africa has been shortchanged for its natural wealth: raw resources are exported cheaply, while value-added products are imported at high cost. Today’s newest risk is the exploitation of our natural climate capital. If the continent sells credits without building its own systems and capacity, it will replicate the same extractive model—this time with emissions instead of ore. ALSO READ: Rwanda faces $7 billion funding gap to implement climate action plan Critics argue that carbon markets are too risky. The real problem is not the market itself—it’s Africa’s readiness to shape it. Africa must redefine success in carbon markets—not in credits traded, but in lives changed. Every carbon dollar must advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): clean energy empowering homes like Mukandori (Goal 7), women freed from unpaid work to promote gender equality (Goal 5), creation of decent and green jobs (Goal 8), and real progress on climate action (Goal 13). UNDP is supporting African countries to strengthen their institutional capacity in carbon markets—developing enabling frameworks to help them leverage carbon finance for sustainable development benefits that reach people like Mukandori in rural communities. But ambition alone won’t get us there. Africa must act decisively to close three major gaps—skills, technology, and finance—so carbon markets become a tool for empowerment, not exploitation. A climate education revolution is needed. Universities must teach carbon finance, climate markets, and green growth, not as electives, but essentials. Without literacy in carbon markets and pricing models, African negotiators cannot sit as equals at the table. Clean technologies – biogas systems, solar irrigation, smart cookstoves remain expensive imports. Africa needs technology transfer mechanisms and homegrown innovation hubs. Carbon markets should finance not just adoption but local production of green solutions, through public-private sector partnerships. Carbon projects carry high-risk and are often unattractive to investors due to currency volatility and limited scale. Africa must leverage blended finance, sovereign guarantees, and results-based climate financing to lower risks, attract private capital and scale impact. Africa has the forests, the land, the youth, and the need. What’s missing is strategic use of those resources to shape and lead the carbon market. Carbon finance must be embedded in national development plans. Investors must see returns not just in carbon tonnes, but in thriving communities. With the 2030 climate deadlines fast approaching, Africa stands at a crossroads: seize the opportunities or stay on the sidelines. The continent must stop seeing carbon markets as tools for others. It’s time to shape them to fit Africa’s needs, take the best they offer, and lead the way in global climate action. As Africa’s mineral wealth fuels the global energy transition, so too must the continental carbon assets fund local development. Aid dependence is a choice. Carbon sovereignty is possible – if Africa builds its capacity, negotiates smartly and refuses to sell itself short. Let’s imagine a future where every African child grows up in a world where carbon markets don’t just reduce pollution, but build schools, restore forests, power homes, and create dignity of people like Mukandori -- not as a side effect, but by design. The author is UNDP’s Regional Carbon Market Programme Specialist for Africa, with over a decade of experience advancing inclusive climate finance.
