OREANDA-NEWS. Ministers from governments across Africa will gather at this year’s Africa Carbon Forum (ACF) on April 13-15 in Marrakesh, Morocco, to step up momentum towards a new, universal climate change agreement in 2015.They will also highlight the region’s readiness and requirement for accelerated private and public financing of low-carbon development.

With countries set to approve a new climate change agreement in Paris in December, this year’s ACF has taken on added significance with inclusion of a high-level segment hosted by the Government of Morocco.

The ministers are expected to consult on their contributions to the agreement via their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) while exploring and encouraging greater opportunities for low-carbon development.

Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 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. The Africa Carbon Forum is an ideal venue for ministers and experts to weigh options, policies and pathways that can fast track the finance, mechanisms and markets needed to realize these aims.”

ACF supports Africa’s participation in global carbon markets and its access to green investment with a range of conference sessions, side events and networking opportunities. Participants will be briefed and receive training on:

  • Identification of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions to climate change action challenges and opportunities;
  • Low carbon development opportunities;
  • Trends in international carbon markets;
  • Finance and project opportunities, for example from the Green Climate Fund;
  • Efforts to increase demand for carbon credits generated by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM); and
  • Opportunities in results-based financing.

The forum is organized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), along with the UNEP-DTU Partnership, World Bank (WB), African Development Bank (AfDB) and International Emissions Trading Association (IETA).

Alex Rugamba, Director of the Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department at the

African Development Bank, said, “The Africa Carbon Forum avails us an ideal platform as stakeholders to share knowledge and solutions to climate change impacts that impede Africa’s development. At this year’s ACF, we look forward to an engaging agenda that further clarifies expectations towards COP 21 from an African perspective.”

The Africa Carbon Forum 2015 builds on the success of last year’s forum in Windhoek, Namibia, which attracted some 400 policy-makers, project developers and investors. Participants exchanged views, shared knowledge and learned the latest about international and national policies and operational issues related to carbon markets, mechanisms and finance.

The forum is organized under the umbrella of the Nairobi Framework, which was launched in 2006 by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan with the aim to assist developing countries, especially those in Sub-Saharan Africa, to improve their level of participation in the CDM.