“𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒, 𝐴𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑.” In this interview, Ahmed Araita Ali, Secretary General of Africa Sovereign Carbon Registry Foundation, reflects on the creation and mission of the Foundation.
The initiative originates from COP27 in 2022, when the President of the Republic of Djibouti, Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, put forward a bold vision: 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫-𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞. Djibouti thus became the first African country to establish a Sovereign Carbon Agency, demonstrating that it is possible for an African state to channel 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡, 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲.
Building on this momentum, Africa Sovereign Carbon Registry Foundation was created to expand the approach to the continental level. The Foundation ensures that sovereign carbon registries established by African states are 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬. Its governance framework, composed of a Founders’ Council, a Governance Council, and an independent Audit Committee, guarantees credibility and rigor in a field where international trust is essential.
This mechanism provides the continent with a unified framework to collect the carbon contributions it is owed. These sovereign revenues are already embedded in the costs of international transport; they are simply redirected, with no impact on local economies or increase in public debt.
💬 “𝐴𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑟-𝑝𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡.” – Ahmed Araita Ali
The ambition, within three years, is for as many African countries as possible to adopt the contribution collection mechanism promoted by Africa Sovereign Carbon Registry Foundation.
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