African leaders, including heads of state and government of the African Union (AU), have stressed that the continent requires more than $3 trillion by 2030 to meet its climate targets, but received only $30 billion between 2021 and 2022.
In a draft declaration issued at the second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, the leaders demanded stronger international commitments and urgent reforms in climate financing mechanisms to ensure fairness, accessibility, and affordability. They emphasised that resources should come mainly as grants rather than loans to avoid worsening Africa’s debt crisis, and called for timely and equitable disbursement.
The summit drew global leaders, intergovernmental organisations, UN agencies, Regional Economic Communities, the private sector, civil society, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, farmers, children, youth, women, and academia. The declaration also reaffirmed commitments made under the Nairobi Declaration on Climate Change and Call to Action, which underscored Africa’s demand for climate justice, equitable financing, and accelerated emissions reduction.
Leaders stressed that climate change is a “risk multiplier”, worsening pressures on natural resources and threatening peace and stability. They underscored the urgency of finalising and operationalising the Common African Position on Climate Change, Peace and Security (CAP-CPS) to enable a unified continental response.
They also insisted that Africa must be seen not only as a victim of climate change but as a resource-endowed and proactive partner, capable of driving innovative and sustainable solutions. The declaration repositioned Africa as a potential global hub for low-carbon manufacturing and green intra-African trade, leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to pursue a “green-first” economic development pathway.
“We acknowledge that African countries, despite their low contribution to global emissions, are the worst affected by climate impacts and the least able to meet adaptation costs,” the draft declaration read. “We reaffirm the need for developed countries to take the lead in accelerating mitigation action, in line with the principle of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities.”
The leaders also highlighted the critical role of Africa’s forests, particularly the Congo Basin rainforest, in regulating the global climate.
They urged developed countries to honour existing commitments under the Paris Agreement, including the provision of predictable and adequate climate finance. They stressed the importance of grants, concessional funding, debt restructuring, and resources for adaptation, loss and damage, and implementation measures.
The declaration expressed concern that the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) of mobilising at least $300 billion annually until 2035 falls far short of Africa’s needs, estimated at $2.8 trillion until 2030. Leaders also lamented the low contributions to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Adaptation Fund, and other UNFCCC financial mechanisms, urging the speedy operationalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund.
On energy, the summit reaffirmed Africa’s potential as a global leader in renewable energy and called for a just and equitable transition grounded in national contexts and in line with the 1992 Rio Declaration principles. With a collective ambition to achieve 300 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, the leaders linked the transition to green industrialisation, job creation, universal access to energy, and environmental protection.
The resolution concluded by affirming Africa’s determination to promote nature-based solutions (NbS) rooted in the continent’s realities, recognising its biodiversity richness and vulnerability to climate shocks.
•
