Location: Douala, Cameroon

Occasion: 27-28 August 2019

Along with our partner organisation ACDESPE from Cameroon, Carbon Market Watch organised a 2 day capacity building workshop on Douala, Cameroon. The object of the workshop work together with national African NGOs to discuss the current international carbon markets and the role African countries may play in their continuation in the future. The workshop gave an opportunity for NGO representatives from various countries in the region to discuss and share past experiences with offsetting practices in their country.

In light of the growing resurgence of demand for offsets from the aviation sector, the workshop provided guidance on what civil society should be aware of as developing country governments look at markets again as renewed sources of inward finance.  Opportunities for engagement on carbon market through national dialog and international negotiations (UNFCCC and ICAO) were also discussed.

The second day of the workshop gave an opportunity for CSO attending the workshop to discuss directly with representatives from airlines based in Cameroon in relation to the aviation new offsetting mechanism, CORSIA. This engagement fostered a healthy debate and gave NGOs the chance to question the motivation of airlines and share concerns on the potential impacts on local communities from future project designed to offset their emissions.

The workshop was a landing ground for various new ideas and initiatives. It was agreed that new network focused on related carbon market issues would be established to carry forward the momentum generated at the event. Carbon Market Watch looks forward to engaging further with African civil society more in the future.