The Johannesburg Stock Exchange , which operates Africa’s biggest stock and bond exchanges, has made its play to corner the continent’s nascent carbon market.
“We are putting the plumbing in place” to trade these securities, Valdene Reddy, the JSE’s director of capital markets, said in an interview. “We are looking to position this as a solution across the continent.” A single carbon credit represents a ton of climate-warming carbon dioxide or its equivalent either removed from the atmosphere or prevented from entering it in the first place. Renewable energy certificates each represent a unit of power generated from renewable sources, which can be traded to offset emissions.
The global carbon credit market is currently worth $2 billion and is projected to grow to as much as $1 trillion per year in 15 years, according to an estimate by BloombergNEF.