About
ACAD is a public-private partnership spearheaded by the United Nations Environment Programme and its Risoe Centre. Formed in late 2009 in cooperation with Standard Bank , ACAD is generously supported by the German Federal Environment Ministry.
Since its launch, ACAD has been working to kickstart the African carbon market – foremost by providing seed funding for innovative and replicable investment projects and providing technical assistance to project developers, but also by helping banks and entrepreneurs to realize local eco-solutions through training and hands-on advisory. ACAD’s approach places emphasis on developing local capacity, industries and market-driven solutions on a sustainable basis.
ACAD is the first carbon project development support facility squarely focused on increasing deal-flow in Africa. The carbon market is a promising mechanism to stimulate green industries and a low-carbon economy in Africa, however, Africa's share of this market has remained disappointingly low. Over a dozen projects in 9 countries across Africa have already been supported to reach financial closure and registration under both compliance and voluntary carbon offset protocols.
ACAD's catalytic support is directed at nurturing viable and replicable business models for low-carbon growth, especially in the areas of clean energy, lighting, and cooking. By capacitating local financial institutions to appraise the risks and rewards of such projects, and by empowering green entrepreneurs, ACAD is kick-starting greater access to the carbon market and supporting the blueprints for future climate finance endeavors in Africa.
Program Overview
An executive overview can be downloaded here.
ACAD Brochure
A general brochure can be downloaded here.
ACAD Portfolio
An at-a-glance guide to ACAD and its project portfolio can be downloaded here.
ACAD Poster
A poster can be downloaded here.
