Climate Change: Africa must move adaptation from promises to action – AGN Chair urges

Chair of the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN), Nana Dr. Antwi-Boasiako Amoah, has called for urgent and practical action to strengthen climate adaptation efforts across Africa, warning that millions of vulnerable people on the continent are already bearing the devastating impacts of climate change.

 

He says Africa could no longer afford fragmented and underfunded adaptation responses while communities continue to suffer worsening climate shocks.

 

Dr. Amoah was delivering the opening statement remotely at the Pan African Coalition for Adaptation and Resilience (PACAR 2026) Workshop in Athi River, Kenya.

 

"For Africa, this sequence must be treated not simply as a calendar of meetings, but as a pathway to move adaptation from recognition to implementation; from general commitments to measurable progress; and from fragmented pilot projects to scaled, financed and country-owned resilience programmes,” he stated.

 

The three-day workshop, organised by Power Shift Africa, brought together civil society actors, researchers, youth groups, women’s movements, and climate experts to discuss Africa’s adaptation priorities ahead of major global climate negotiations.

 

Dr. Amoah commended Power Shift Africa for consistently championing adaptation issues across the continent and acknowledged the organisation’s efforts in connecting grassroots realities to international climate negotiations.

 

Climate change is already hurting ordinary Africans

 

In a deeply human-centred address, the AGN Chair highlighted the growing toll of climate change on ordinary Africans, especially farmers, fisherfolk, women, children, and vulnerable communities already struggling with poverty and weak infrastructure.

 

“Climate impacts are already affecting African farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolk, urban households, women, children, persons with disabilities and communities in fragile settings,” he said.

 

Beyond environmental destruction, he noted that climate shocks are worsening food insecurity, damaging public infrastructure, straining health systems, and increasing economic pressure on governments already battling debt and development challenges.

 

For many communities across Africa, the crisis is no longer theoretical.

In northern Kenya, prolonged droughts continue to wipe out livestock and livelihoods. In West Africa, floods are destroying homes and farms, while urban settlements across the continent face mounting sanitation and disease risks linked to extreme weather.

 

“Drought is not only a water problem,” Dr. Amoah explained. “It is also a food price, nutrition, health and income problem. Flooding is not only an infrastructure problem; it is also a housing, sanitation, disease and local government finance problem.”

 

Call for integrated adaptation and accessible finance

 

Dr. Amoah argued that Africa must adopt integrated adaptation systems that simultaneously protect food production, water resources, public health, infrastructure, and vulnerable ecosystems.

 

According to him, adaptation should no longer be treated as disconnected interventions but as a comprehensive development and resilience strategy.

“We need approaches that strengthen local institutions, build early warning systems, climate-proof infrastructure, expand social protection and support communities before disasters become humanitarian crises,” he said.

 

He also raised concerns over the accessibility and quality of climate finance available to African countries.

 

“Too much of what is counted as climate finance does not reach those carrying the greatest adaptation burden,” he stated. “Too much comes as loans, and too much is trapped in complex procedures that local institutions and community-based actors cannot access.”

 

Dr. Amoah insisted that adaptation finance for Africa must be predictable, grant-based or highly concessional, and directly accessible to local communities at the frontline of climate impacts.

 

“If adaptation is local in its impact, then finance must become more local in its delivery,” he added.

 

Africa’s voice ahead of COP31 and COP32

 

Looking ahead to upcoming global climate negotiations, including SB64, COP31 and COP32 expected to be hosted in Ethiopia, the AGN Chair urged African stakeholders to sharpen the continent’s adaptation narrative and push for stronger implementation commitments.

 

He encouraged workshop participants to focus on practical outcomes that connect international negotiations to real action on the ground.

 

“Global decisions must translate into resources, institutions, programmes and accountability for communities,” he stressed.

 

Dr. Amoah said COP32 must become more than just another climate conference hosted on African soil.

 

“It must be a moment when the world confronts adaptation with the seriousness it deserves, and when African priorities shape the centre of the global climate agenda,” he stated.

 

He concluded by reaffirming the readiness of the African Group of Negotiators to work closely with civil society organisations and frontline communities to ensure Africa’s adaptation priorities are not only heard globally, but acted upon decisively.

 By Kofi Adu Domfeh

Clean Energy: Finance commitments reach $1.6trillion with $284billion mobilized towards achieving global goals

New commitments to boost renewable energy and increase access to electricity and clean cooking technologies by 2030 have brought the finance and investment pledged through the United Nations to US$ 1.6 trillion, with $284 billion already mobilized.

 

According to the fourth edition of the Energy Compacts Annual Progress Report, which is being launched at the EnergyNow SDG7 Action Forum on the margins of the UN General Assembly, shows expanding action under the Energy Compact voluntary commitments on both energy access and transition.

 

Of the $284 billion mobilized or deployed since 2021 through the Compacts, the majority has been private sector investment in renewable power generation.

 

The report cites figures from the 2025 Tracking SDG7 Report that over $4 trillion total investment is needed annually to reduce the ranks of 660 million people living without electricity and over 2 billion still cooking with polluting fuels, while setting the world on a climate action trajectory towards net-zero emissions by 2050 and averting ever-worsening climate impacts.  

"The world is entering a decisive moment for energy," noted the leadership of UN-Energy – Haoliang Xu, Acting Administrator of UNDP and Co-Chair of UN-Energy; Damilola Ogunbiyi, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy; and Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, which serves as the Secretariat for UN-Energy.  
 
"Choices made today will determine not only whether we achieve our climate and development goals, but also how future generations experience prosperity, equity, and security," the three UN-Energy leaders added. "The Energy Compacts are proving that transformation is possible [..], that solutions to advance the global energy transition are no longer abstract – they are investment-ready and being scaled, adapted, and delivered."  

Expanding results on energy transition and access

Progress on achieving affordable and clean energy for all – Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 – has been moving forward, but not at the scale and pace needed to meet the deadline of the 2030 Agenda or the climate targets under the Paris Agreement.

 

The Energy Compacts progress report outlines commitments from governments and the private sector, which include planned spending by countries for both domestic and international action to increase energy access, efficiency and renewables, as well as private sector investment slated in these areas.

 

Since the Energy Compacts were launched in 2021 – in connection with the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy – 209 commitments have been registered and substantial results generated, according to the report.

By providing new and improved electricity connections, Energy Compact proponents have enhanced electricity access for 285 million people, a significant increase of 108 million people in the past year.

 

Progress on enhancing clean cooking access by Energy Compact proponents remain slower, with 33 million people added since 2021, up from 23 million last year.

 

Tracking SDG 7

 

The latest Tracking SDG7 Report showed that population growth in Sub-Saharan Africa continues to outpace access gains, leaving approximately 14 million additional people without clean cooking solutions every year.

Updated figures also show how Energy Compacts have had positive impacts on a wide range of SDG goals, such as improving electricity access at over 10,400 health facilities (SDG3), and by helping to deploy over 2.8 million electric vehicles and over 336,000 charging stations (SDG11).

The report includes guidance on how national governments, regions and cities, private companies, financial institutions, UN agencies and civil society organizations can submit their own Energy Compact commitments through an online process.

The report notes that, as countries roll out their updated national climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, incorporating energy targets through national Energy Compacts can serve as an important tool, citing Indonesia and Nepal as examples. Case studies in the report highlight the diversity of Energy Compacts, ranging from a woman-led, solar-powered digital community centre in Guatemala to a Japanese business that enables customers to track the source of their electricity, as needed to work towards 24/7 carbon-free energy.

The report was prepared by UN-Energy, the coordination mechanism which includes nearly 30 UN and international organizations that work on energy issues, with data compiled and analysed by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL).

 

African MPs deliver bold call for climate finance and green development

Africa has the solutions for a green and resilient future, but global partners must step up with the financing to match its ambitions.

 

That’s the unified message of lawmakers from 21 African parliaments who convened at the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

 

At the Parliamentary Dialogue themed “Financing for Africa’s Resilient and Green Development: Parliamentary Pathways”, the lawmakers issued a joint communiqué pledging to champion Climate Prosperity Plans (CPPs), leverage green economic zones, pass stronger climate legislation, and introduce new accountability tools to unlock billions in green investment for the continent.

 

President of the Pan-African Parliament, Chief Fortune Charumbira, urged fellow lawmakers to "change the gear" and take a proactive role in Africa's green transition.

 

He also urged them to seize opportunities to engage in both global and local climate conversations, ensuring that the voices of the people are represented.

 

“When you have something that's a crisis involving people, they should be part of the solution. Don't isolate them. You have to go to the grassroots, go to the people themselves, so that they also make an input into what we are trying to do,” he said.

 

The Promise of CPPs

 

The Climate Vulnerable Forum and V20 Finance Ministers (CVF-V20), a coalition of 74 countries most vulnerable to climate change, has been championing CPPs as national blueprints focused on growth-guided investments, technology transfer, and job creation, all while lowering climate-related financial risk.

 

“What we have in these plans are scenario analysis, socioeconomic outcomes, a green industrial policy to take advantage of supply chain and value chain expansion, and a detailed composition of the financing needs, projects and programs, and delivery mechanisms so that we hit the ground running, and it doesn't remain as a plan sitting on a shelf,” said Sara Jane Ahmed, Managing Director of the CVF-V20 Secretariat.

 

Hon. Yaya Gassama of The Gambia emphasized the parliament’s role in driving the implementation of CPPs. “Investors need confidence, and this is where parliamentarians play a decisive role. As lawmakers, we assist with passing enabling legislative frameworks, from tax incentives for renewables to frameworks for public-private partnerships. By turning plans into laws and conducting oversight on legislative implementation, we can ensure that climate finance delivers real results for the people,” he said.

 

“CPPs align development with climate goals—and it is very important that we consider this framework and adopt it,” Hon. Dr. Gladness Salema of Tanzania added.

 

Concrete Commitments for a Green Future

 

To create an enabling environment for CPPs, lawmakers at the dialogue committed to accelerate climate legislation by leveraging the Model Climate Change Law for Africa. They will also institutionalize oversight tools such as the Climate Finance Monitoring and Accountability Tool, champion climate-smart budgeting with dedicated funds for clean energy and adaptation initiatives, and strengthen collaboration through networks like the Africa Network of Parliamentarians on Climate Change (ANPCC) and CVF Global Parliamentary Group (GPG) to amplify Africa's unified voice on climate.

 

Hon. Émile Kohou Guirieoulou of Côte d'Ivoire and Chairperson of the ANPCC emphasized that these are “not abstract concepts, but practical parliamentary pathways to address climate change by securing and enhancing climate investment, creating green jobs, and building clean, climate-resilient economies.”

 

A Call for Global Action and Innovative Solutions

 

According to the Climate Policy Initiative, Africa needs up to $2.8 trillion between 2020 and 2030, but only 12% of this funding has been committed. Exacerbating this challenge, African nations face prohibitively high borrowing costs, making essential climate finance  expensive.

 

Closing this gap will require both global financial reform and innovative solutions. As Hon. Moses Kajwang of Kenya stated, "The debt-for-climate swap is a conversation Members of Parliament should have." He also pointed to new market opportunities, adding, “I want to encourage the [development] partners that are here that members are extremely interested in carbon markets and carbon trading, because we think that those could provide certain opportunities for local communities to benefit.”

 

The dialogue concluded with a call for a new kind of partnership. Hon. Mohamed Nasheed, Secretary-General of the CVF-V20 Secretariat and former

President of the Maldives, reframed the case for global support: “Africa is a powerful and colossally diverse continent, a willing partner in the global pursuit of climate justice and sustainable prosperity. The question is not what the world can do for Africa but what the world can do with Africa. Because investing in Africa is investing in a better tomorrow for the rest of the world.”

 

The Parliamentary Dialogue was convened by the CVF GPG, the World Future Council’s Global Renewables Congress, in collaboration with AGNES, ANPCC, the Climate Parliament, the Kenyan Parliament, the Ethiopian Parliament and the UN Environmental Programme. 

 

Bonn Climate Talks: Africa has eyes on $1.3 trillion climate finance roadmap

Many developing countries, particularly in Africa, are proposing more ambitious climate targets as they prepare to submit their updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the UNFCCC in September.

 

However, a recurring challenge persists. Countries lack sufficient financing to implement climate action at the scale required, as international financial support has not been fully realized.

 

More than 70% of African climate commitments are conditional – they rely on external finance to be realized. Without tangible funding commitments from developed countries, these NDCs risk remaining aspirational rather than actionable.

 

The African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) is therefore concerned about the ongoing UN Climate Conference in Bonn, Germany, delivering on climate finance.

 

During COP 26, rich countries pledged to double the amount of adaptation financing they provide by 2025 compared to 2018. At COP 30, the question of whether this has been met will be crucial.

 

The Bonn negotiations present a special moment to set an ambitious expectation of adaptation finance for the UN climate talks in Brazil later this year.  

 

AGN Chair, Dr. Richard Muyungi, says going back to the $1.3trillion climate finance deliverable is critical, taking into account both the historic imbalances and urgent development and resource needs.

 

“We need resources because impacts are increasing; we need resources because we are committed to work with the international community and we can’t do that without resources on the ground. Therefore, for us the realization of the $1.3trillion roadmap is very important,” he emphasized at a press conference in Bonn.

 

The delivery of the Just Transition – a shift towards low carbon climate resilient economies – is another essential area of interest to the AGN.

 

Dr. Muyungi believes the Just Transition is a transformative approach with inherent opportunities in the shift, but the AGN is also looking at the prioritizing issues that impact on the daily lives of people in Africa, including connectivity and energy security and clean cooking and impacts on women and children.

 

“We do understand that is not an easy task; it is not just a negotiating process, but a life transforming process. The Just Transition pathways must be informed by the realities of Africa on the ground, they must be informed by the needs and what Africa contributes to the just transition,” he stated.

 

The mid-year UN climate talks kicked off in Bonn amid an increase in climate impacts globally, yet many of the world’s biggest polluters have not submitted their updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). In response, African countries are calling on big emitters to submit ambitious emissions reduction plans to achieve the 1.5°C temperature goals.

 

In this year’s conference, the COP Presidencies of Azerbaijan and Brazil will jumpstart discussions between countries on delivering the $1.3 trillion goal. The roadmap offers the opportunity to address finance questions that went unanswered at COP 29.

 

African countries have continually emphasized the need for grants for adaptation and loss and damage, and concessional finance for the just transition.

 

As negotiators get to work, COP30 President, André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, has prevailed on governments to deliver on what they agreed to do under the Global Stocktake.

 

by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Climate action ideals waning a major global talks?

When the richest countries in the world met at the 50^th G7 leaders’ summit in Alberta, Canada, climate action was not a priority on their agenda. 

 

But in a crucial time to raise ambition to avert a climate catastrophe, these countries are expected to be leading the phase out of fossil fuels and the transition to renewable energy, which would lead to more prosperity, cleaner air and reliable energy.

 

Civil society organization, 350.org, has expressed disappointment at the lack of climate leadership, urgency and ambition from world leaders.

 

“European leaders arrived at the G7 with plans to build more nuclear and expand fossil gas, pushing LNG not to solve the climate crisis, but to score points in trade relations with Trump. Europe claims climate leadership, but backing more gas infrastructure in a year of record heat and extreme weather is reckless. This summit should be about figuring out how to phase out fossil fuels and triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 — not climate hypocrisy,” said Nicolò Wojewoda, Europe Regional Director, 350.org.

 

The G7 includes the most polluting countries and some of the largest fossil fuel expanders, Canada and the United States. These nations bear the historic responsibility to contribute climate finance to the tune of $1.3 trillion annually in non-debt-creating support for Global South nations. 

 

Bonn meeting and climate emergency

 

On the road to COP30 in Brazil, the mid-year UN climate talks opened in Bonn, Germany, to advance key negotiations, with UN climate chief, Simon Stiell, pleading that “we need to demonstrate to the world that climate cooperation can deliver - now more than ever.”

 

According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Africa has suffered annual losses of $7 billion due to climate change between 2010 and 2019. This figure could rise to $50 billion by 2040 if the high-emissions scenarios continue, and could cause a 2-4% reduction in Africa's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth per year by 2040, and a 10-25% reduction by 2100.

 

It's therefore crucial to provide urgent finance specifically dedicated to adaptation, loss and damage to help countries prepare for future displacement, livelihood disruption, and losses.

 

At the Bonn Climate Talks, the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) has prioritized Adaptation, Finance, Just Transition, Mitigation, Clean Cooking and Mission 300. 

 

Clean cooking and energy access are two important initiatives aimed at addressing Africa’s energy poverty and overall contribution to the continent’s sustainable development agenda.

 

“Africa’s energy poverty is well documented; it is for this reason that our leaders under the auspices of the African Union, endorsed and declared Mission 300 and Clean Cooking initiatives as flagship programmes to transform the continent from its current state of energy poverty. We need to find a way of ensuring this agenda is embraced by all of us,” said Chair of AGN, Dr. Richard Muyungi.

 

Africa climate aspirations

 

Ahead of the 62^nd session of the UN Climate Change Subsidiary Bodies (SB62) in Bonn, the AGN emphasized the importance and power of Africa’s unity in global negotiations.

 

African civil society, under the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), has also reminded negotiators, observers, and Parties that the outcomes of this conference must reflect the lived realities, aspirations, and urgent needs of the world’s most climate-vulnerable continent.

 

In this regard, Africa’s voice must shape the direction of global climate discussions and action.

 

A few days into talks, PACJA has been alarmed by the sluggish pinto of proceedings and delays in adopting the agenda.

 

“This signals the beginning of yet another manoeuvre orchestrated by developed country partners to keep the frontline communities in Africa and other vulnerable countries under the bondage of the climate crisis,” said PACJA.

 

The first day of the negotiations ended without agreement on the agenda particularly because parties could not agree on the most crucial matter – climate finance – with special reference on article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement which is clear on the obligation of the developed country partners in providing resources to developing countries for climate action.

 

“We reiterate that negotiations in Bonn this year must reflect the urgency in dealing with the ever-elusive question of financing climate action,” said PACJA.

 

Ahead of COP30 in Brazil, groups like the G7 are expected to seize the opportunity to reinforce their climate commitments, ensuring the vulnerable can access the right support to adapt to the realities of climate change.

 

By Kofi Adu Domfeh

Climate Change: AGN calls for a ‘Just Transition’ that addresses Africa’s energy poverty

Chair of the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN), Dr. Richard Muyungi, has called for a ‘Just Transition’ that addresses Africa’s energy poverty.

 

Emphasizing the ‘Africa First’ agenda, he said Africa cannot talk about just transition while over 600 million people in Africa are without access to energy and 900 without clean cooking solutions.

 

“It is for this reason that the inclusion of the Clean Cooking agenda, which is being championed by H.E, Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania in the just transition work programme, is key,” he noted.

 

Dr. Muyungi was addressing the first Strategic Meeting of AGN in Zanzibar, under the chairmanship of the United Republic of Tanzania.

 

“I am delighted to note that the African Union, at its last assembly, adopted both the AU declaration on Clean Cooking and the Dar-es-Salaam Declaration on Mission 300 Energy Summit that focuses on providing energy access to at least 300 million people in Africa by 2030. At this meeting, we have resolved to ensure these two important decisions by the AU Assembly are embedded in the Just transition and mitigation work programmes towards Belem and beyond,” added the AGN Chair. 

 

In the context of climate change, a ‘just transition’ refers to a strategy that ensures a fair and equitable transition to a low-carbon economy, minimizing negative impacts on workers and communities while maximizing social and economic opportunities. It aims to balance climate action with social justice, creating decent work, reducing inequalities, and ensuring no one is left behind.

 

At its fourth session, the Conference of Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) decided to establish a work programme on ‘Just Transition’ pathways to advancing the goals of the Paris Agreement.  

 

The decision emphasized that just transition pathways must be based on nationally defined development priorities and include social protection so as to mitigate potential impacts associated with the transition.

 

Other priorities discussed and agreed at the AGN meeting included;

 

-      Finalizing Africa’s approach towards the new round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs 3.0), ensuring they are ambitious, equitable, and supported by adequate means of implementation;

 

-      Securing clarity and operationalization of the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance, building upon AU and CAHOSCC relevant guiding decisions and the "Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3 trillion USD by 2035";

 

-      Ensuring decisive progress on adaptation, including the adoption of robust indicators under the Global Goal on Adaptation, and tangible progress on National Adaptation Plans;

 

-      Defending Africa’s equity-centered positions in the evolving global climate governance, particularly in loss and damage, technology transfer, just transition work programmes, and transparency frameworks;

 

-      Reaffirming the critical importance of youth and gender inclusion in advancing an equitable, inclusive, and sustainable climate future for the African continent, recognising that youth and women are not only disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change but are also powerful agents of change and innovation in driving transformative climate action; and

 

-      Reaffirming that Africa’s natural wealth presents a transformative opportunity to drive global climate change mitigation while catalysing inclusive, sustainable economic growth across the continent, with particular attention to how Africa’s endowment of 60% of the world’s highest-quality solar potential, significant wind, vast hydropower capacity, could enable Africa to leapfrog into a low-carbon future while contributing meaningfully to global emissions reductions.

 

Meanwhile, the AGN Chair reaffirmed the group’s crucial role in technically advising the African Union’s key institutions notably, the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) and Committee of African Heads of State on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), ensuring that Africa's priorities are consistently, coherently, and effectively articulated within the UNFCCC process and beyond. 

 

“Our Group remains the only technical backbone that sustains Africa’s political decisions on climate change,” said Dr. Muyungi. “It is for this reason that this meeting is designed, among other objectives, to address decisions emanating from the February 2025 CAHOSCC meeting in Addis Ababa, and to provide clear technical advice that will guide the African continent throughout this year towards COP30 and beyond.”

 

Generally, the meeting reaffirmed Africa’s unwavering commitment to a unified, science-driven, and justice-centred approach to climate negotiations, emphasising the centrality of adaptation, climate finance, clean energy access, just transition, and institutional strengthening anchored in mandates from the African Union, AMCEN, and CAHOSCC as essential pillars of Africa’s climate agenda. 

 

"Africa’s adaptation and resilience building must remain at the heart of our conversations, both in Africa and globally. Our countries and communities are on the frontlines of climate impacts—yet we have contributed the least to the crisis. Belem must deliver stronger commitments that prioritize the urgent needs of vulnerable communities, protecting livelihoods, ecosystems, and economies,” said Dr. Mithika Mwenda, Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) Executive Director.

 

He added that “central to this is adaptation finance. It is not enough to promise – finance must flow, and it must be accessible, predictable, adequate and scaled up dramatically. We must demand concrete delivery on the new collective quantified goal on finance. Africa must lead the call for a goal that is not only ambitious but based on real needs, reflecting the scale of the adaptation and mitigation challenges we face.”  

 

Climate Action: Over 90% of countries fail to submit new NDCs by deadline

As the official deadline passes for countries to submit their revised Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, only 13 of the 195 parties have done so.

 

Alarmingly, this group includes just five developed countries, which are required to lead the way on climate action. 

 

Under the Paris Agreement, every country must update its national climate action plan every five years. These NDC plans outline how nations intend to reduce emissions and adapt to climate impacts to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

 

This year’s submissions should extend their new NDCs to 2030 and outline new objectives for the period up to 2035, setting the tone for a decisive decade of climate action.

 

The countries that submitted their NDCs on time include Andorra, Brazil, Ecuador, the Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Singapore, St. Lucia, Switzerland, the UAE, the UK, Uruguay, the USA, and Zimbabwe.

 

Among the developed countries yet to submit their NDCs is the European Union, which has indicated it will not do so until September, just weeks before COP30 in Brazil.

 

“We expect countries to submit NDCs that will collectively deliver 1.5°C alignment and climate justice before COP 30. It’s now or never for the planet,” stated Fernanda Carvalho, WWF Head of Policy for Climate and Energy.

 

Climate Action Network has called on developed and rich countries to urgently submit their NDCs in line with 1.5°C pathways and for them to be grounded in climate justice.

 

“It’s shocking that only 13 out of 195 countries have updated their NDCs, with the majority of rich nations not submitting on deadline, exposing the alarming lack of political will for ambition under the Paris Agreement,” said Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of CAN International.

 

“We recognise that developing countries would need robust, grants-based public funding to deliver real additional climate ambition. Bold targets alone won’t cut it; NDCs must be backed by the resources needed to make them a reality. For COP30 to be a true turning point in climate action, this new round of NDCs must restore confidence and drive a transformative and just transition - one that leaves no one behind,” he stated.

 

As CAN has previously outlined in its Guidelines and its letter to the Troika, for the NDCs to be truly transformative they must:

 

-      Include ambitious commitments in the energy sector as part of countries’ plans to transition away from fossil fuels, halting the destruction of ecosystems, and other plans for vulnerable sectors.

 

-      Enable a just transition for communities and workers, with robust social protections.

 

-      Prioritise equity and transparency, ensuring climate plans are developed inclusively with civil society and local stakeholders.

 

According to David Knecht, climate expert at Fastenaktion Switzerland, “the next NDCs must catalyse community-driven development. At the same time, the NDCs 3.0 need to include concrete fossil fuel phaseout plans, as agreed upon in Dubai, and we expect developed countries to lead on this, as well as on providing direly needed grant-based finance for the global transition. To signal to the world what is needed, countries must speed-up and present soonest NDCs that set the highest expectations.”