At the second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2), being held this week in Addis Ababa, one of the most practical outcomes for the region’s climate action agenda is being unveiled today (9th September, 2024). The Manual for Developing Nature-Based Carbon Projects in Eastern Africa, produced by Climate Focus together with the Eastern Africa Alliance on Carbon Markets and Climate Finance under the Voluntary Carbon Markets Initiative’s ‘Access Strategies’ Program, is being launched during the session dubbed “Regional Collaboration in the Establishment of Carbon Markets in Africa” at the Addis International Convention Centre, Room F3, from 4:30 to 5:30 PM EAT.
The manual is the first comprehensive guide tailored for Eastern Africa’s project developers, offering technical, legal, and commercial pathways to design and scale high-integrity nature-based carbon projects. It covers Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, all countries with vast potential for forests, rangelands, wetlands, and agroforestry to generate measurable emission reductions and removals while advancing biodiversity and livelihoods.
By releasing it at ACS2, the Alliance is positioning the manual not as a background resource but as a live tool to help move from continental ambition to tangible delivery. The timing underscores the urgency: while Africa accounts for only around four percent of global emissions, it has some of the world’s most significant opportunities for land-based carbon projects. Yet developers across the region face technical and regulatory barriers that have limited access to voluntary and compliance carbon markets. The manual aims to lower these barriers by providing clear methodologies, practical templates, and step-by-step instructions.
The content is structured around the project lifecycle. Developers are guided through initial feasibility, stakeholder engagement, and baseline setting, then into methodological choices, additionality assessments, leakage and permanence safeguards, and finally the validation and verification processes required under major global standards such as the Verified Carbon Standard, Gold Standard, and REDD+ frameworks. A detailed Project Design Document checklist ensures that data, assumptions, and stakeholder inputs are documented consistently, reducing the risk of rejection during validation.
Read also: WRI report launched at AFS Forum 2025 exposes billions lost to food waste in Kenya
The manual also highlights the realities of timelines and costs. Developers are reminded that high-quality projects rarely move quickly: most will take between three and five years to progress from design to first credit issuance. Costs accumulate across feasibility studies, community consultations, monitoring technology, and third-party audits. A shortage of accredited Validation and Verification Bodies globally adds further delays, which is why the manual advises early engagement with VVBs to secure availability. While this detail may appear technical, it addresses one of the biggest frustrations in Eastern Africa’s carbon markets, promising projects stalled by procedural bottlenecks.
Data presented in the manual reinforces the scope of opportunity. Across the seven countries, existing project pipelines already cover waste, renewable energy, household energy, and industrial mitigation. But nature-based solutions stand out as the strongest comparative advantage. Afforestation and reforestation options are flagged in Ethiopia and Uganda, avoided deforestation projects dominate in Kenya and Tanzania, and wetland restoration is emerging as a promising but complex pathway. Agricultural improvements, particularly soil carbon and sustainable land management, also carry significant potential, though they require robust methodologies.
Read also: Kenya releases report on Africa’s climate progress since inaugural ACS in 2023
Alongside the technical steps, the manual places equal emphasis on governance and equity. Developers are urged to ensure Free, Prior, and Informed Consent from local communities, backed by clear records. It sets out approaches to designing transparent benefit-sharing mechanisms, linking carbon revenues directly to livelihood improvements, biodiversity protection, and social infrastructure. Without these, projects risk community resistance, reputational damage, and failure to meet the integrity benchmarks demanded by markets. The guidance includes model clauses and examples of how agreements with communities can be structured and verified.
The legal and regulatory environment is also mapped. Kenya’s Climate Change (Carbon Markets) Regulations of 2024, Rwanda’s National Carbon Market Framework, and Tanzania’s Environmental Management (Carbon Trading) Regulations are among the frameworks already in place, and others are being drafted across the region. The manual explains how developers can navigate these national processes while aligning with emerging regional collaboration under the Eastern Africa Alliance. This harmonization is designed to reduce fragmentation and make the region’s carbon projects more competitive globally.
Commercialization strategies are another area where the manual offers practical advice. Developers are encouraged to assess buyers as carefully as buyers assess projects. Voluntary carbon markets remain volatile, with nature-based credits sometimes earning premiums of 20 percent or more over other project types but subject to wide price swings. The manual therefore stresses diversified revenue models, careful contract structuring, and alignment with the ICVCM’s Core Carbon Principles to maintain credibility. It also acknowledges that carbon finance alone is unlikely to sustain most projects; instead, it should be blended with concessional finance, public support, and philanthropic capital.
This launch comes against the backdrop of a finance gap repeatedly underscored at ACS2. Africa received just $47 billion in climate finance in 2023, far below the estimated $190 billion required annually by 2030. Delegates in Addis have argued that carbon markets can form part of the solution, but only if African projects are designed and certified to the highest integrity standards. The manual is intended to provide that foundation, creating a pipeline of credible projects that international buyers and financiers can trust.
The ACS2 discussions emphasize that Africa’s climate transition requires both political leadership and operational delivery. Kenya’s continental progress report, tabled earlier at the summit, provided the strategic framing. The manual being launched today provides the technical and procedural detail necessary for developers in Eastern Africa to seize opportunities in carbon markets while safeguarding ecosystems and communities. Together, these instruments reflect the summit’s dual purpose: continental strategy and regional implementation.
The manual offers more than theory. It provides concrete tools that can help project developers shorten development timelines, reduce transaction costs, and meet international integrity standards. It also reflects a broader shift: Africa is no longer just calling for climate finance but actively building the mechanisms to access it on its own terms.
The Manual for Developing Nature-Based Carbon Projects in Eastern Africa is officially launched today at ACS2. Stakeholders, developers, and policymakers can download the full manual, here. As Eastern Africa positions itself to scale carbon markets responsibly, this manual is set to become a key reference for turning climate ambition into certified, high-integrity projects that benefit people, nature, and economies alike.
