Ghana has unlocked an expected $43 million in forest carbon payments - days after Gabon struck a six-million-tonne carbon credit deal - as African leaders at COP31 push for more forest investment.
African governments are lining up carbon credit sales and seeking investment at COP31 in Antalya as they look to earn more from the continent’s vast forests.
At a high-level forest summit on Wednesday, representatives from Ghana, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and Ethiopia outlined plans to expand carbon markets, attract private investment and restore damaged forests.
The announcements come as governments seek greater returns from protecting forests that absorb carbon dioxide, regulate rainfall and support millions of livelihoods.
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Ghana announced that about 6.5 million forest carbon credits had been issued under the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions’ TREES standard, paving the way for an expected US$43 million in initial payments from buyers including the LEAF Coalition.
The credits represent verified emissions cuts achieved between 2017 and 2021 under Ghana’s nationwide forest programme, which measures results across large areas.
“Ghana therefore welcomes efforts through the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership to strengthen carbon markets and mobilize forest finance,” said Hugh C.A. Brown, chief executive of Ghana’s Forestry Commission.
“We also support the Tropical Forest Forever Facility’s ambition to provide long-term finance for standing forests.”
The announcement follows a breakthrough at COP29 in Baku in 2024, where countries agreed on the remaining rules for international carbon trading under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
The rules set out how countries can trade and track emissions cuts and prevent the same reductions from counting towards more than one country’s climate targets. They also laid the groundwork for a UN-run carbon credit system. Credits issued under independent standards such as ART TREES sit outside that system.
African countries with large forests are also looking to aviation carbon markets and other programmes that pay for verified emissions cuts.
Earlier this month, Gabon struck a deal in London to sell forest carbon credits covering about six million tonnes of emissions to SEFE, an energy company owned by the German government.
The credits were issued under the ART TREES standard and are eligible for the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, known as CORSIA.
Gabon says it is the first African country to secure a sale of this kind involving aviation-eligible forest credits measured across its entire territory. The first deliveries are expected by the first quarter of 2027.
The price was not disclosed. Gabon’s government said the credits were earned through forest protection and that the country would retain ownership and management of its forests.
The sale builds on Gabon’s earlier efforts to earn money from protecting its forests. In 2021, it became the first African country to receive payments for cutting emissions from deforestation and forest damage.
It received an initial US$17 million from the Central African Forest Initiative after independent check confirmed emission cuts in 2016 and 2017. The payment was part of a US$150 million deal signed in 2019 to reward forest protectin over 10 years.
Gabon has also pledged to cut forest-related greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2005 levels. Its forests absorb an estimated 140 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, according to the Central African Forest Initiative.
Gabon’s latest deal points to growing commercial interest in credits based on emissions measured across an entire country or region. Such programmes can help governments attract buyers for verified emissions cuts while retaining control over forest policy.
That matters in the Congo Basin, home to the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest after the Amazon, where governments are seeking to protect forests while growing their economies.
At COP31, President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo said his government would continue protecting its forests while seeking more funding to support local livelihoods.
“The destruction of these ecosystems has had a considerable environmental and economic cost. We have made a choice to conserve the forests,” Tshisekedi said.
The DRC outlined plans to plant 100,000 hectares of forest. Tshisekedi said forest finance should benefit communities, particularly women and young people.
The neighbouring Republic of Congo reported planting more than 14 million trees under a national programme that aims to establish one million hectares of planted forests.
Forest Economy Minister Rosalie Matondo said more than 27% of the country’s territory had been set aside for national parks and wildlife protection.
The country has also led efforts to establish the United Nations Decade of Afforestation and Reforestation, which will run from 2027 to 2036 and bring countries together to restore damaged forests.
“The time for declarations must now give way to action and measurable results,” Matondo said.
She called for funding pledges to translate into lasting improvements for communities involved in forest protection.
In West Africa, Nigeria launched its Securing Nigeria’s Forest Future Country Package, setting out plans to protect and restore forests and support sustainable livelihoods.
Environment Minister Balarabe Abbas Lawal said the government was seeking public and private investment, including through green bonds, to fund the plans.
Ethiopia, which will host COP32 in Addis Ababa next year, highlighted its Green Legacy Initiative and plans to expand forest restoration through the Green Legacy and Landscape Restoration Fund.
The plans come as countries seek more funding to meet the global goal of halting and reversing deforestation by 2030.
According to figures presented by the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership, forests receive less than 1% of global climate finance, though they account for about a fifth of the world’s cost-effective options for cutting emissions.
At the Antalya summit, leaders highlighted the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, which aims to provide long-term payments to countries that protect their tropical forests.
Norway said it was ready to contribute up to 20% of the fund’s initial US$10 Bullion target. The Netherlands confirmed US$500 million over 10 years and the United Kingdom reiterated plans to invest up to £400 million (about US$530 million).
Charitable foundations also pledged US$88 million, including support from the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation.
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Carbon credit schemes generally pay for measured emissions cuts or carbon removals. The facility aims to make regular payments for keeping tropical forests standing, potentially opening up another source of finance for African countries with large forests and historically low rates of forest loss.
Guyana offered an example of what forest carbon trading can earn. Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo told the summit that more than 30 airlines were buying the South American country’s forest carbon credits and that revenues were expected to exceed US$100 million this year.
He said 20% of the money went to Indigenous communities.
“Our success will depend on whether we change the economic realities facing countries and forest communities,” Jagdeo said.
How to share the proceeds is also a question for African countries entering international carbon markets. Gabon’s government says it will hold proceeds from the SEFE deal until new national rules on carbon trading and revenue sharing take effect.
Those rules are expected to set out how much will go to communities affected by forest protection activities.
Carbon markets still face questions about how reliably emissions cuts are measured, how long forests remain protected and whether local communities’ rights are respected.
The rules agreed in Baku include measures for tracking and reporting emissions cuts, while independent carbon credit programmes have their own checks.
At COP31, leaders renewed their pledge to halt and reverse deforestation and forest damage by 2030. With four years to go, governments still need to close deals, secure payments and decide how to share the proceeds with communities that help protect forests.
