Assessing the Challenges to Leverage Carbon Markets for Renewable Energy in Developing Countries: A Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach

Harnessing carbon markets for renewable energy involves evaluating various factors carefully. To address this, a multi-criteria approach is employed for its flexibility and supplementary tools. This study assesses five challenges of leveraging carbon markets for renewable energy in Africa. The stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) method is applied in an interval-valued spherical fuzzy environment (IVSF) to facilitate group decision-making. The study emphasizes institutional capacity shortfalls and regulatory framework gaps as the most significant obstacles to harnessing carbon markets for renewable energy. The research findings guide policymakers in formulating effective strategies to address these challenges.