A new policy brief by Power Shift Africa has raised the alarm over carbon markets, warning that they could unleash up to 2.5 gigatonnes of additional emissions annually surpassing the combined fossil fuel and agricultural emissions of the entire African continent.

The report, Why Carbon Markets Are a Dangerous Distraction for Africa, was developed in collaboration with global climate scientists and experts.

It paints a stark picture of how carbon trading mechanisms, particularly unregulated voluntary markets, are fuelling further pollution, undermining real climate solutions, and placing an unfair burden on African nations.

“Carbon markets are nothing but a cover-up for polluters,” said Mohamed Adow, Founder and Director of Power Shift Africa, and lead author of the report. “They allow big corporations to continue emitting greenhouse gases while pretending to take climate action. The burden then shifts to Africa, where the impacts of climate change are already being felt the hardest.”

The brief criticizes the carbon offset model, arguing it delays urgently needed structural changes by enabling corporate greenwashing.

Rather than cutting emissions at the source, companies purchase offsets, effectively buying the right to pollute while disguising it as environmental responsibility.

It also warns that initiatives like the African Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI) could lead to significant new emissions, with carbon trading turning Africa into a dumping ground for rich nations’ pollution. The commodification of carbon credits, the authors argue, risks transferring control of land and resources to elites both global and local deepening inequality and undermining development.

Bridget Mugambe, Programmes Coordinator at the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), said carbon trading schemes are reinforcing historic power imbalances. “They act as pollution passes for those who can afford to pay. Meanwhile, African communities especially those already vulnerable are left to deal with the fallout. This is climate injustice in its rawest form.”

Mugambe further warned that the restrictions tied to such schemes often interfere with community land rights, threatening food security and worsening social inequality. “Africa must reject these false climate solutions and push for direct financing of climate-resilient agriculture, clean energy, and local disaster preparedness.”

The report draws on global examples such as the European Union Emissions Trading System, which it says failed to meet early climate targets and offered little incentive for transformative change. Voluntary carbon markets, it adds, have similarly failed to drive serious decarbonisation.

Rather than relying on speculative financial tools, the brief urges African governments to pursue more accountable and people-focused alternatives. These include increasing public climate funding, cancelling unsustainable debt, implementing tax justice reforms, and investing in community-led adaptation and mitigation efforts.

“Carbon markets are a dangerous distraction,” said Meryne Warrah, Director of GreenFaith Africa. “What Africa needs is investment in clean, decentralized energy systems, green jobs, and locally controlled climate funds not hollow promises from offset markets that allow polluters to carry on with business as usual.”

The authors also call for the establishment of national climate funds managed with transparency and public oversight, to help African nations maintain sovereignty over their climate agendas. They advocate for agroecological practices, renewable energy access, and sustainable land use as more effective, locally driven climate strategies.

Jason Braganza, Executive Director of the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD), said rich nations and major polluters must be held accountable for their emissions. “These carbon trading schemes do not serve Africa they sideline our priorities, misuse resources, and reinforce dependence.”

Echoing this, Memory Kachambwa, Executive Director of FEMNET, emphasized the need to centre indigenous communities and women in climate policy. “Africa deserves real solutions, not corporate loopholes. Our focus should be on community-based adaptation, agroecology, and inclusive national climate planning.”

In conclusion, the report warns that unless Africa rejects the illusion of carbon markets and insists on real, equitable climate financing, the continent risks being locked into a future shaped by others one where profits come before people, and polluters remain untouched.