"Pay Africa for carbon offsets to save the planet and support livelihoods, leaders say"

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta wants businesses and corporations in the global North to take advantage of the unique ecological opportunity offered by Africa as a natural carbon sink and compensate the continent. Mr Kenyatta explained to investors at a side event at the ongoing COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, that the process can transform conservation finance in Africa by compensating the continent for storing carbon and tackling climate change. He noted that the global net zero emissions demand can unlock value for Africa’s people by offering businesses an opportunity to appeal to consumers keen on making more environmentally conscious purchases.

Across the world, consumers are increasingly demanding that companies and countries go carbon neutral. But for some corporations, their business models or processes involve exploitation or destruction of nature. For such, the “compensation instead of reduction” principle allows them to legally exceed a limit — for example, for the emission of greenhouse gases — while keeping their footprint low by ensuring an additional reduction of emissions elsewhere, in this case here in Africa.