South Africa unveils Draft Carbon Markets Framework and Plan

The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dr Dion George, MP, introduced the Draft South African Carbon Markets Framework and announced a complementary Draft Carbon Credit Revenue Plan, both to be vetted and gazetted soon.

• Main announcement and implementation: The Draft South African Carbon Markets Framework (developed under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement) and the Draft Carbon Credit Revenue Plan will establish the institutional and regulatory architecture for high-integrity carbon markets in South Africa; actions include a comprehensive status analysis, a strong institutional setup with an inter-agency arrangement, the launch of pilot projects, and a fair revenue-sharing model to allocate proceeds to the national fiscus, project expansion, and local communities.
• Key scope, programs and alignment: The Revenue Plan has three objectives (generate sustainable revenue from forests, wetlands, oceans and protected landscapes; reinvest revenue in environmental programmes aligned with NDCs; demonstrate climate-innovation leadership); concrete programmes cited include the Ten Million Trees Programme, REDD+, management of national parks and protected areas as verified carbon sinks, and unlocking Blue Carbon potential across 3,000 kilometres of coastline; the approach aligns with the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism and will prioritize transparency, verification and equitable benefit-sharing.