Sovereign Carbon Initiatives
Africa is the continent most vulnerable to climate change. Its effects are already affecting all sectors of its economy, ecosystems and populations, making it urgent to set up sovereign energy or environmental transition initiatives and programs.
Many African countries are implementing national Carbon Initiatives in line with the commitments of the Paris Agreement and their global decarbonization objectives. Based on the Polluter Pays principle, the creation of a Carbon Contribution makes it possible to place the cost of the energy and environmental transition on the main greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters, by prioritizing the development of programs with impacts on national territories.
These mechanisms make it possible to redirect the financial effort of international polluters to the countries where they pollute. This is the case, in particular, for the maritime and aviation sectors, which are already engaged in offsetting efforts on international carbon markets, but rarely for the benefit of countries where they nevertheless emit a significant share of GHGs generated by their activities.
African Sovereign Carbon Registries:
Registries at the service of National Carbon Initiatives
The African Sovereign Carbon Registries were designed to ensure the compliance of national Carbon Initiatives with international norms and standards in force as well as with internationally recognized rules of good governance and transparency.
Independent and harmonized, they allow each national Carbon Agency (or any other government entity in charge) to develop its own Sovereign Carbon Registry. They are not intended to intervene in areas that fall under the Sovereignty of countries and their national Carbon Agencies.
Thus, the definition of the so-called ‘Obligated’ sectors subject to the obligation to pay the Carbon Contribution, the amount of this Contribution (USD/tonne of CO2), the energy and environmental transition strategy, the development and financing of programs, and the distribution between the Contribution and carbon offset effort of the Obligated Parties fall under the exclusive competence of the national Carbon Agencies. Guaranteeing to public and private partners and to the international community that the national Carbon Initiatives of African countries are governed according to the best governance principles in force, the Registry allows :
- Obligated Parties, as sovereignly defined by each sovereign State, to record the carbon footprint of their activities in the country where they operate according to recognized carbon inventory calculation standards (e.g. GHG Protocol, ISO14064, etc.) and according to international sector standards (e.g. CORSIA, IMO, etc.)
- African States to record, monitor and ensure the verification of Obligated Parties' mitigation efforts: payment of the Carbon Contribution and offsetting actions on international voluntary carbon markets.
- To record and monitor impact or energy and environmental transition programs financed by the Carbon Contribution collected from Obligated Parties.
Guarantors of the integrity of national Carbon Initiatives, African Sovereign Carbon Registries are independent of national Carbon Agencies, and are subject to verification and certification by Bureau Veritas, an independent auditing company recognized for the quality and rigor of its services in accordance with current standards (ISAE 3410/3000) as well as a quarterly financial audit carried out by an international firm.
Founding values and principles of
the African Sovereign Carbon Registries
Impact
The Registries aim to support the implementation of national strategies and energy, environmental and impact transition programs in Africa that meet the Sustainable Development Goals as defined by the United Nations, for the benefit of African communities most affected by climate change.
Compliance
The rules for calculating and reporting the carbon footprint of the Obligated Parties comply with international standards (GHG Protocol, ISO14064, PAS2060), international and sectoral agreements (CORSIA, IMO), and recognized Emission Factor bases (IPCC, DEFRA, IMO, etc.).
Carbon offsetting actions are carried out by withdrawing carbon credits issued by reference certification standards (Verra, Gold Standard, etc.), in accordance with the Core Carbon Principles as defined by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM).
Transparency
The African Sovereign Carbon Registries are governed by international standards in force, ensuring transparency and independent verification by third-party auditing companies recognized for their expertise.
Independence
The African Sovereign Carbon Registries are strictly independent of any state entity and in particular of National Carbon Agencies.
Sovereignty
The African Sovereign Carbon Registries respect the principle of sovereignty of States, their governments and their National Carbon Agencies. They do not intervene in the choice of so-called 'Obligated' sectors, nor in the definition and implementation of national energy and environmental transition or impact programs financed by the collection of Carbon Contributions.
Contact
Do you have any questions?
contact@asc-registry.org