Exclusive interview with Bianca Gichangi, Regional Lead for Africa at the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity (VCMI) Initiative and a member of the advisory board of the upcoming Africa’s Green Economy Summit.
Please give us some background about yourself and your role at the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity (VCMI) Initiative?
My name is Bianca Gichangi and I’m currently the regional lead for Africa at VCMI. Regarding my background: I’ve worked in the carbon market space for a while, on the policy side, working a lot with governments but also working with the private sector in terms of policy, capacity building and bringing stakeholders up to speed on the different aspects of carbon markets and I’ve also been involved in project development. At VCMI, I work as the Regional Lead for Africa on their access strategy programme, focusing on the African countries but overall on capacity building initiatives on carbon markets.
What was the impetus behind the creation of the VCMI?
The creation of VCMI was driven by an urgent need for credible and trustworthy carbon markets, as we’re moving towards net zero targets. VCMI is a not-for-profit organisation that has been created to ensure that voluntary carbon markets operate with high integrity, support the goals of the Paris Agreement and brings benefit for people and planet.
It was announced in March of 2021 by the Co-President at the time, Alok Sharma, and has since then been broadly endorsed by companies, NGOs and governments. It is a standard setter on the demand side for the voluntary carbon markets with a claims code of practice, and with our Access Strategies Programme, which supports host countries with incorporating these high integrity VCMs.
The organisation was created over an 18-month consultative process engaging experts and different stakeholders across the board, from companies to governments, our stakeholder forum and expert advisory group in making it a holistic and international standard.
Part of the focus of the organisation is helping companies to make Carbon Integrity Claims? What are these?
The VCMI Carbon Integrity Claims are claims about carbon credits that companies can make to demonstrate their climate achievement and meaningful climate action. Through these claims organisations acknowledge that they have gone above and beyond their science-aligned emission cuts to accelerate global net zero. Companies can make these claims using our VCMI claims code of practice, which provides a universal standard for companies to, first of all, use carbon credits as part of their net zero transition, and second, to make verified claims about this use. This now ensures integrity on the demand side. And this means that companies use carbon credits in addition, not instead of, decarbonisation and make these credible claims.
Are companies reducing emissions fast enough? And do they have the tools to do this?
Well, companies are not reducing emissions fast enough and they are actually falling behind on their science-based targets. In reality, up to 60% of the companies with these science-based targets are falling behind on their Scope 3 emission reduction targets. But we need action right now. So the use of credits would mean faster emission reductions helping to conserve the carbon budget. And it’s better for those working hard to decarbonise, but still falling short of their targets to use credits to take responsibility for their emissions than to renounce their targets altogether. This would allow them to direct capital to projects that bring emissions down quickly elsewhere. We believe that action is better than inaction. And we find that companies that use credits decarbonise a lot quicker, have more ambitious targets, invest more in decarbonisation efforts and have stronger governance.
Regarding the tools to advance this, VCMI has a Scope 3 claim, which is currently in beta version and will increase urgent climate action while companies transition to net zero. So this claim in beta version requires companies to make science-aligned emission cuts across direct operations under Scope 1 and 2, as well as take responsibility for their value chain emissions, Scope 3, through emission cuts and high-quality carbon credits. There will be guardrails in place to maintain integrity and to ensure that the carbon credits are used in addition and not to delay decarbonisation. It is not a get out of jail free card.
We are also in the process of having a public stakeholder consultation. In the past, we have often consulted with over 150 corporates on sustainability and finance and climate experts to inform this version.
How are you including Indigenous People and local communities in your activities and messaging?
While local communities and indigenous peoples are very active members of carbon markets they should be involved in the process and be empowered to participate all through the carbon markets project cycle. This means they should be involved all the way from inception and designing through verification, maintenance and its governance. It is important to involve them and not only as beneficiaries but also as shareholders of projects.
And voluntary carbon markets can quickly channel the finance to low- and middle-income countries, directly focusing the finance to where it’s needed most for Indigenous Peoples and Local communities who do the hard work of preserving 80% of the world’s biodiversity. Our access strategy programme has a toolkit that also goes into detail on how to factor in communities in your process and development of carbon markets frameworks.
Any particular success stories that you can share?
Yes, in 2023, we ran an early adopters programme to support a group of companies committed to working on making a carbon integrity claim. We now are happy to announce that we have Bain & Company as part of that group, making the first integrity claim, ushering in a new era of high-integrity voluntary carbon markets. And recently in June of 2024, we had Natura Cosmetics also achieve a carbon integrity platinum claim. So this, of course, has set out a high standard for companies to engage in high use of quality carbon credits.
On the access strategy side, we have produced an access strategy toolkit that policymakers can use on how to incorporate this high-integrity voluntary carbon market activities into their climate plans, such as their NDCs or climate prosperity programmes. We are currently working with Peru, and we have provided support to the Kenya government in the form of a secondment. We have worked with the state of Yucatan in Mexico to develop a carbon market strategy and now are in the process of developing a best practice guide for their private sector to engage in voluntary carbon market activities.
This support also extends to case studies that we have done in different sectors. We have done a study on the opportunities for carbon markets in agriculture, blue economy in Latin America and the Caribbean region. So, we fully understand that capacity is required based on the requests that these countries make specific to access strategies programmes and we tailor the support to the request of the country.
How will Africa benefit from voluntary carbon markets?
We stand to benefit significantly from voluntary carbon markets, as it unlocks new carbon finance revenue streams for communities and governments, promoting sustainable practices in agriculture, promoting deployment of low carbon technologies in energy, transport and also attracting investment into a wide variety of projects cutting across different sectors.
It does position Africa to benefit from carbon markets, because previously we have not really seen the benefits translating into the sustainable development that the continent needs. Therefore, engaging in high-integrity carbon markets will enable us to really take advantage of carbon finance that can be used and channelled to where the African countries themselves prioritise this intervention and financing to go.
What are the biggest challenges?
However, governments and development banks say that this is not being ramped up fast enough. Integrity itself, which is really important on both the demand and supply side, having the high quality credits produced on the supply side – which IC-VCM is focused on, and then being used credibly on the demand side – which VCMI is focused on is really important to provide transparency. However, this alone will not drive up the demand, and government intervention is required through policies and regulations that actually promote the use of carbon markets and their uptake. So, we are running out of time, and companies need to act now for the carbon credits to be a part of this action with governments supporting these interventions.
What is your vision in terms of what the green economy could mean for job creation and climate change?
Well, for starters, voluntary carbon markets can drive green growth across various sectors, helping drive system transformations, support infrastructure development and create job opportunities, particularly for the youth. These markets can support sustainable farming practices and reforestation efforts, while also fostering the development of technical skills in emerging sectors such as e-mobility, clean cooking, and renewable energy. By engaging young engineers or youths with technical backgrounds in the local design and implementation of these low-carbon technology projects, we can build a skilled workforce that not only advances green innovation but also ensures that economic benefits are widely shared within communities.
What excites you most about the opportunities that the green economy can have for Africa?
What excites me the most about the opportunities for Africa is the abundance and wealth of resources that we have, and how we can use that as an opportunity and to frame ourselves as a critical part of the solution to global decarbonisation. We have so many rich renewable energy resources, large expanses of arable land, diverse terrestrial and marine ecosystems, critical minerals and a young population that is growing. We really are on the verge of sustainable economic growth, and even speaking about green industrialisation that can be propelled by these resources.
We have so many opportunities coming up, for example, in the e-mobility space, which weren’t there before, especially in the carbon market space, this is something really new and an opportunity for us to decarbonise in terms of the way we travel. And there are opportunities in clean cooking. We’re seeing advanced technologies coming up in terms of biofuels, but also clean cooking using electricity.
So, we are really innovating as we move along, such as with the opportunities of sustainable practices in agriculture and biochar.And of course, renewable energy can be used to drive green industrialisation. For example, in Eastern Africa, we have a lot of geothermal and that can be used to also support direct air capture. So there are a lot of opportunities in new spaces that we should be able to take advantage of and really use these carbon markets as a way of bringing in finance that will also leverage more financing to contribute to sub-sectors growing. But it is also catalytic in terms of increasing the deployment of these low-carbon technologies. So I’m really excited for us to use these markets, but use them in a new way, from how carbon markets were used, to really propel Africa’s priorities in terms of moving forward in our green growth.
You are a member of the AGES advisory board. What made you decide to become involved in AGES?
Well, joining the advisory board actually aligns perfectly with the passion I have for the green growth that the continent is going to have and the sustainable development on the continent. So I definitely see the summit as a platform to shape the narrative around green economy, the policies that we are developing, the networks and collaborations that leading organisations and countries will come forward in terms of providing lasting solutions for a future where we can transition into sustainable development. So, it’s one of the initiatives that really aligns with the work that I am doing, and it was a natural decision to join.
How important is such an event for the continent?
It’s really important for the continent, because, as mentioned before, it’s really key for us to come together, first of all, to know the progress that we are making, to learn from each other, to understand what our challenges are, but also to celebrate the successes that we are having in terms of driving our climate agendas in our countries and how that is contributing towards us growing. So, it’s really important that we don’t get siloed into what we’re just doing by ourselves. This is an opportunity for us to look at all these different aspects that contribute towards holistic green growth. It’s really important for all different kinds of stakeholders, whether it’s private sector, governments and civil society organisations, to really be a part of this conversation and to really boost the narrative that we can actually have development that is not contributing to the climate crisis.
It’s important for us as Africa to know that, even though we are the most vulnerable countries when it comes to climate impacts and have the least emissions and really have contributed the least in terms of these emissions, that we can consciously choose to develop in a manner that is different from what caused this problem. Of course, we will need a lot of climate finance to make this a reality, but it is crucial that we explore every avenue, use all innovative instruments we can, such as carbon markets as well, to see how we can finance our transition and our development because we need to develop. And it’s important that we do so in a way that is resilient for our people, but at the same time, also reducing emissions. So, it is definitely an important conversation that needs to bring everybody together to continue advancing how Africa can grow in a green and sustainable way.
August is Women’s Month in South Africa, but we celebrate women all over the continent. Do you have a message about the role of women in the energy transition?
My message would be that women need to continue supporting each other. This space, in terms of energy transition is unique, and it is a unique opportunity for women to be empowered, to get into new sectors and new aspects of climate change that were not traditionally there, but are now also an opportunity for them to come in, contribute to policy, contribute to projects that are actually leading to renewable energy, leading to community benefits, and leading to wider knowledge on the subject matter.
And it’s really important for women to be a part of this conversation, and for the women that are in the space to keep encouraging each other and to also keep mentoring younger women to get into this space as well and to really continue working to amplify our voices and the support of the work on the continent as it’s a crucial, crucial time for women to be involved and to become leaders in the space.
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