2024 The leastdevelopedcountries report Leveraging carbon marketsfor development The leastdevelopedcountries report Leveraging carbon marketsfor development Leveraging carbon markets for development © 2024, United NationsAll rights reserved worldwide Requests to reproduce excerpts or to photocopy should be addressed to the CopyrightClearance Center atcopyright.com. All other queries on rights and licences, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to: United Nations Publications405 East 42nd StreetNew York, New York 10017United States of AmericaEmail:publications@un.orgWebsite:https://shop.un.org The designations employed and the presentation of material on any map in this work do not implythe expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations concerning the legalstatus of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation ofits frontiers or boundaries. Mention of any firm or licensed process does not imply the endorsement of the United Nations. This publication has been edited externally. United Nations publication issued by the United Nations Conferenceon Trade and Development Acknowledgements The Least Developed Countries Report 2024was prepared by UNCTAD under the overallsupervision of Paul Akiwumi, Director, Division for Africa, Least Developed Countries andSpecial Programmes, and Junior Roy Davis, Head, Policy Analysis and Research Branch, byRolf Traeger (team leader), Benjamin Mattondo Banda, Stefan Csordas, Junior Roy Davis andMatfobhi Riba, assisted by Zakaria Jbilou, Siying Li, Elena Stroganova, Stefanie West, BohanYang and Yufei Zhang. An external peer review of the report held on 26 June 2024 brought together specialists inthe fields of carbon markets, climate change, international environmental policy, developmentpolicy and strategies, sustainable development and development finance. The participantswere Jean-Paul Adam (United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa), Liliana Andonova(Geneva Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies), Perumal Arumugam(United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat), Martial Bernoux (Foodand Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), El Hadji Mbaye Diagne (Afrique - Energie -Environnement, Dakar), Ekkehard Ernst (International Labour Organization), Phillip Eyre (UnitedNations Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat), Jing He (Shanghai University ofInternational Business and Economics, China), Simon Hess (Enhanced Integrated FrameworkSecretariat), Mizanur Khan (Independent University, Bangladesh), Xiankun Lu (Friends ofMultilateralism Group, Geneva), Isa Mulder (Carbon Market Watch), Madeleine Nyiratuza (UnitedNations Development Programme), Brian Oronoz (United Nations Environment Programme),Gelila Terrefe (United Nations Development Programme), Francis D Yamba (Centre for Energy,Environment and Engineering Zambia) and the following UNCTAD colleagues: Birce Akay; JudithAmeso; Habiba Ben Barka; Lisa Borgatti; Rachid Bouhia; Chantal Line Carpentier; MussieDelelegn; Marco Fugazza; Stefanie Garry; Moritz Meier-Ewert; Anthony Miller; Amelia SantosPaulino; Igor Paunovic; Diane Sayinzoga; Hidenobu Tokuda; Claudia Trentini; and Anida Yupari. Comments were provided by Meibo Huang (Shanghai University of International Businessand Economics, China), Isa Mulder (Carbon Market Watch), Brian Oronoz (United NationsEnvironment Programme), Francis D Yamba (Centre for Energy, Environment and EngineeringZambia) and the following UNCTAD colleagues: Marco Fugazza; Hidenobu Tokuda; ChantalLine Carpentier; Claudia Contreras; and Giovanni Valensisi. Carbon Market Watch prepared background papers for the report. The report was edited by Praveen Bhalla. Gilles Maury designed the publication. Least developed countries report 2024Leveraging carbon markets for development Note The term “dollars” ($) refers to United States dollars unless otherwise specified. The term “billion” signifies 1,000 million. The term “ton” signifies metric ton, i.e. 1,000 kilograms. Annual rates of growth and change refer to compound rates. Use of a dash (–) between dates representing years, e.g. 1981–1990,signifies the full period involved, including the initial and final years. A slash(/) between two years, e.g. 1991/92, signifies a fiscal or crop year. Throughout the report, the term “least developed country” refers to a country includedin the United Nations list of the least developed countries (see classifications below). The terms “country” and “economy”, as appropriate, also refer to territories or areas. Tables Two dots (..) indicate that the data are not available or are not separately reported.One dot (.) indicates that the data are not applicable.A dash (–) indicates that the amount is nil or negligible.Percentages do not necessarily add up to totals because of rounding. Table of contents Acknowledgements........................................