CCDA-14: AGN Chair outlines four-pillar strategy for genuine African climate agency

The 14^th Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-14) opened at the United Nations Conference Centre, signaling a decisive continental transition from negotiating targets to delivering real-world implementation.

 

Convened by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the African Union Commission (AUC), the high-level summit will produce strategic frameworks to shape Africa's position ahead of COP31 in Antalya and lay the vital groundwork for an African-led COP32 in 2027.

 

Addressing the delegates at the opening ceremony, ECA Executive Secretary Claver Gatete delivered a direct warning against defining Africa's climate story purely by its vulnerability.

 

Although Africa contributes less than 4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, it continues to face disproportionate climate-induced disasters. Gatete acknowledged that while the continent has set ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans, actual implementation continues to lag behind.

 

"We must not allow it to limit Africa's climate story to one of victimhood," Gatete declared. He pointed to finance as the primary obstacle, noting that Africa requires $277 billion annually to implement its NDCs through 2030, yet current global flows cover a mere 11 percent of this need.

 

Gatete argued that international finance must prioritize grants and concessional resources over debt-adding instruments, while leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to transform the continent’s mineral and renewable wealth into green jobs.

 

AUC Commissioner, Moses Vilakati put the challenge to the conference even more bluntly: the defining question for CCDA-14 is not what Africa expects from others, but "what Africa is prepared to propose".

 

Civil society representatives strongly aligned with this sentiment, with PACJA Executive Director Mithika Mwenda asserting that CCDA-14 cannot be "another talk shop" and must move previous commitments "from declaration to delivery".

In a pivotal presentation addressing the core meaning of African climate leadership, Nana Dr. Antwi-Boasiako Amoah, Chair of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN), outlined the pathway to true climate governance.

 

He argued that African climate agency is achieved when the continent moves away from a reactive posture, constantly responding to proposals drafted by external parties, and instead actively shapes the global agenda with technically grounded, credible, and unified African solutions.

 

The AGN is uniquely tasked with translating 54 diverse national interests into cohesive, unified common positions. To achieve this, the group coordinates across a rigorous three-tiered system, feeding technical inputs upward to the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) and receiving strategic political guidance from the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC).

 

To operationalize this proactive leadership, Dr. Amoah detailed the AGN’s structured framework for advancing continental agency across four essential pillars:

 

Narrative and Agenda-Setting Agency: Reframing global climate governance by linking climate action directly to equity and access to sustainable development, in compliance with the Paris Agreement.

 

Institutional Influence: Shaping the governance and policies of the UNFCCC Financial Mechanism—including the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Loss and Damage Fund—while driving COP decisions to reform Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and championing the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA).

 

Normative and Legal Influence: Advancing the operationalization of equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC) through equitable, just transition pathways.

 

Accountability and Implementation: Demanding that international parties fulfill their legal obligations under both the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.

 

For the long term, Dr. Amoah introduced the development of an African Common Platform. This platform is designed to protect developing nations' legitimate rights to sustainable development and poverty eradication.

Crucially, the platform rejects any trade-offs between climate action and development, asserting that Africa must secure the necessary "policy space" for industrialization and green value chains. This requires coordinating across broader international economic, trade, and financial systems to support local content and integrate African markets into global technology supply chains.

 

In the near term, the strategic roadmap runs directly to COP31 in Antalya and culminates in Ethiopia’s hosting of COP32 in 2027.

 

The AGN plans to use COP32 as a unified front to advance equity, close the massive adaptation finance gap, and table mature regional initiatives backed by clear financing and delivery plans.

 

As CCDA-14 continues through September 9, delegates are working to finalize a COP31 strategic framework and a unified African Common Position.

 

For the AGN, success means protecting the policy space for sustainable development, ensuring predictable finance, and securing a just and prosperous future for the entire continent.

 

Africa is not on track to achieve zero hunger by 2030, #ARFSD2021

Africa is not on track to achieve zero hunger by 2030, Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Regional Representative for Africa, Abebe Haile-Gabriel, told a meeting reviewing progress made by the continent towards attaining that goal so far.

Co-organised by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the World Food Programme (WFP), in collaboration with the Government of the Republic of Congo, the meeting is part of the Seventh Session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) that is underway in Brazzaville.

“The results remain unsatisfactory and there are many challenges due to climate change, the poor economic situation and the negative impacts of COVID 19, as well as the lack of public investment,” said Mr. Haile-Gabriel.

He, however, said the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was a unique opportunity for the transformation of the continent’s food system.

To address the issue of hunger in Africa, Mr. Haile-Gabriel said political will and commitment at the highest level was key, adding national and local level actions and investments were also critical.

He said there was an urgent need for the continent to build back and forward better after the COVID-19 pandemic, with governments being called on to invest in social protection measures to save the most vulnerable in society. The transformation of the African food system is crucial to help end hunger, he said, adding the adoption of holistic multi sectoral approaches was needed.

Chris Toe from the WFP said African countries need to prioritize and scale up investments in rural transformation, sustainable infrastructure and human capital development as they work towards eliminating hunger and food insecurities.

This, he said, will not only help to sustain ongoing progress, but also assist in the continent’s quest to achieve zero hunger as espoused in the SDGs and Africa’s 2025 commitment to end hunger and Agenda 2063 aspirations.

A Congolese government official, M. Mukena Bantu, an adviser in charge of cooperation and projects, speaking on behalf of Agriculture Minister, Mr. Joseph-Antoine Kasongo, said the new administration was determined to accelerate the development of agriculture to end hunger.

“We have declared that the soil must take over the subsoil,” he said, adding, “There is political will to carry out all the actions necessary to achieve food security.”

The side event provided a platform for member States to reflect and share on transformative actions and investments that will facilitate the building of Africa’s food systems better towards meeting the aspirations and goals of the 2030 Agenda and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

 

ECA launches Building Forward for an African Green Recovery report

The Economic Commission for Africa has launched the Building Forward for an African Green Recovery report which highlights the continent’s bold post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery strategy.

The report seeks to bolster the continent’s valiant quest for the realization of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), attainment of the Paris Agreement’s climate change targets and achievement of the prosperity objectives articulated in Africa’s Agenda 2063.

The Building Forward for an African Green Recovery will contribute significantly towards achieving and enhancing sustainable trade within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) over the next decade.

The report shows the African region faces its first recession in 25 years with output losses due to COVID-19 estimated to be 99 billion USD. This is compounded by climate impacts on economic output projected to cause annual losses of between 3-5% of GDP by 2030 under a business-as-usual scenario. In some cases, this will be as much as -15% of GDP.  With credible data available on the impact of climate change, the ECA Building Forward for an African Green Recovery makes a case for Africa to make informed assessments and take knowledgeable decisions. The report calls for the uptake of nature-based solutions at national, regional and continental levels to inspire policies that preserve the global commons.

ECA has been at the forefront of supporting transitions in African countries towards sustainable development pathways illustrated on Green or Blue Economy pillars, which endorse climate-smart agricultural approaches, sustainable fisheries, ecotourism and adoption of cleaner energy sources including solar, tidal, wind and geothermal sources.

“For us to build back better we need a lot of energy. The conversation in Africa is about substituting expensive bad fossil fuels with something that is cleaner and cheaper,” said UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the ECA, Vera Songwe.  “We have to replace fuel-based energies with green and sustainable ones.”

This report seeks to galvanise support for Africa’s Green and Blue Economy strategies and mobilise resources to bolster the continent’s climate adaptation and mitigation measures. It summarizes the continental outlook of how collaborative partnerships bringing together development partners, multilateral agencies, private sector, international and non-governmental organisations can boost Africa’s green and blue livelihoods recovery programme.

Ms. Songwe noted that with the impact of COVID-19 and its associated economic contractions coupled with the debilitating impact of the climate crisis, Africa’s focus on recovery was even more essential. According to the ECA Chief, there is an urgent need to roll-out financial aid packages, investments in sustainable infrastructure and structure fiscal stimuli to cushion the expected transition into the green and blue economy.

In the immediate this involves a new issuance of SDRs to boost liquidity for African countries, and extension of the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI).  The ECA has also been advocating for SDRs to be made available for on-lending to provide cheaper forms of finance for investment in sustainable priorities such as clean energy. Opportunities for green and blue bonds using appropriate credit enhancements should also be considered alongside the opportunity for debt restructuring using debt for climate or debt for nature swaps.

The “circular economy” concept has been defined as one which is restorative, as it heavily relies on renewable energies and eradicates waste and toxic chemicals.  In the same vein the green economy is described as one that improves well-being, promotes social equity, reduces ecological risks and is capable of transforming the global economy towards a low-carbon development uptake. 

In his remarks, Albert Muchanga, African Union’s Commissioner for Trade and Industry, welcomed the launch of the South African case studies.  “The launch of the report and case studies has come at an opportune moment as the AU will work together with the ECA and other partners in fulfilling the objective of an African post-pandemic Green recovery,” the AUC Commissioner said.

“Africa has immense renewable energy potential to boost its economic growth through adoption of cleaner energy pathways which are a boost to adaptation and climate mitigation.”

Commenting on the need for urgent global action to support Africa’s green recovery initiatives, Sir Nicholas Kay, the UK regional Ambassador for Africa of the Climate Conference (COP26), said “Global political will is building up as has been seen with the return of the US to the Paris Agreement, commitment of China to net-zero emissions and raised ambitions by the UK, among other developed nations, to pursue a Green Industrial Revolution. All these are a boost for Africa to adopt greener economic pathways for attainment of sustainable development goals.”

“Green energy is the future,” he added.

Speaking during the launch, Julia Bird from the Oxford University, who collaborated with the ECA in producing the report said; “Africa is endowed with some of the world’s richest biodiversity hotspots, and one of the most important natural carbon sinks, such as the peatlands of the Congo basin which can lock in up to 30 billion tons of carbon.”

“This sequestered carbon is equivalent to 3 years-worth of the whole world’s emissions. Carbon off-sets provide an opportunity for Africa to tap into the value of its natural assets by factoring in carbon sequestration values. Uptake of reliable green energy will support Africa’s economic transformation and clean transition.”

Ms. Songwe underscored the need for a “paradigm shift from resource-heavy and inefficient models of production and consumption that incentivise overexploitation, to models that are centred on sustainable use of resources and bring value throughout the production and consumption cycle as part of a circular green economy.”

 

Major African climate and development conference kicks off with urgent calls for climate action

The eighth edition of the Climate Change and Development in Africa Conference – CCDA-8 has opened in Addis Ababa with strong calls to reverse the current lackluster approach to implementing the Paris Agreement and tackle climate change. 
 

Co-organised by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the PanAfrican Climate Justice Alliance, the three-day special meeting has as its theme: “Stepping Up Climate Action for a Resilient Africa: a Race We Can and Must Win”.

“Many African countries have submitted ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions to Climate Action – NDCs - showing that African leaders have made strong commitments to tackle climate change while striving to meet their national development agendas,” said Ethiopia’s Frehiwot Woldehanna, State Minister for Energy Sector, Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy in his opening remarks.

He said Ethiopia, whose electricity system is dominated by hydropower was one of the first countries to submit its NDC leading up to the Paris Agreement and was one of the first countries to ratify the agreement. Furthermore, the Climate Action Summit is being organized under nine action areas, one of which is the energy transition being led by Denmark and Ethiopia.

Yet, despite the efforts on the ground, climate-induced frequent and more intense droughts “are putting our energy security and reliability at risk, with significant economic and social impacts,” said the Minister, stressing that without urgent action to tackle climate change Africa will not meet the targets of the other sustainable development goals.

“As countries raise their climate ambition, we must remember the fundamental principle of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which calls for wide cooperation by all countries and their participation in an effective and appropriate international response, in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and their social and economic conditions,” he said.

ECA’s Chief of Staff, Aida Opoku-Mensah, noted that Africa contributes the least to global emissions but is already suffering the most adverse impacts from climate change.

“The Continent contributes under 6% of emissions, with per capita emissions of only 0.8 tons per year, well below the global mean of 5 tons, and far lower than for other regions such as Europe and Asia,” she said.

Ms. Opoku-Mensah indicated that this special CCDA is being held ahead of the forthcoming Climate Action Summit which is calling for urgent and concerted global action to fight climate change. “This is a last wake-up call to all countries to raise their game and step up climate action for multiple social, economic and environmental wins,” she stressed.

She also highlighted a number of Climate Actions undertaken by the ECA in collaboration with partners. These include: Climate Research for Development in Africa (CR4D), which strengthens the links between climate science research and climate information needs in support development planning in Africa; The Africa Climate Resilient Investment Facility (AFRI-RES) - a joint initiative of the ECA, the World Bank, the AUC and the African Development Bank; and the DFID-funded Weather and Climate Information Services for Africa (WISER).

Godfrey Bahigwa representing the African Union Commission stressed that while climate adaptation is a priority for Africa, “the current global climate financing flows for adaptation are limited with strong inclination towards financing mitigation related projects, as opposed to adaptation related ones.

He said the AU Commission is working on mobilizing resources and partnerships to support AU Member States to domesticate and implement their NDCs. “We also want to establish a continental reporting mechanism that will show process that Africa is making in the implementation of the Paris agreement on climate change,” he added.

James Kinyangi from the African Development Bank told the gathering that the first urgent action is “to build Resilience and Adaptation to the adverse impacts of climate change for the most vulnerable communities across Africa.” Having signed and ratified the Paris Agreement, nearly all African countries “are now committed to Climate Action in support of building resilience through early warning systems, comprehensive risk assessment and management and risk insurance,” he said.

“The time is NOW, to translate the agreement into concrete action, to safeguard development gains and address the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable,” he added.

Building resilient African economies requires institutional reforms

Institutional reform is a key intervention towards ensuring the resilience of African economies and the livelihoods of communities, says the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

According to James Murombedzi, Officer-in-Charge of ACPC, communities have long practiced many adaptation strategies and devised many viable responses to changing conditions.

“However, there are limits to how well communities can continue to practice adaptive livelihoods in the context of a changing climate. They need the support of an enabling environment created by government-planned adaptation,” he observed.

He was addressing a forum on climate governance preceding the Seventh Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-VII) in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Conference comes on the heels of the IPCC report on Global Warming of 1.5^oC which says the world is heading towards catastrophe if immediate action is not taken to halt greenhouse gas emissions.

“We have adequate knowledge of the causes of global warming, and the science is conclusive. There is no room for climate deniers in this discourse,” said James Murombedzi. “However, the inaction that we have seen is not because there is insufficient knowledge or technology or finance. We have enough of these to be able to change the way in which we produce, distribute and consume goods and services”

The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirms what the impacts of climate change that African is already experiencing.

Mithika Mwenda of the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) said the implementation of climate policies remains crucial.

“The successful implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), a set of actions each country has committed under Paris Agreement to combat climate change, will be determined by the policy and legal frameworks which will be laid down by individual countries,” he noted.

African economies and communities are generally dependent on natural resources. The use and management of these natural resources also tends to be characterized by institutional structures which are poor, making them vulnerable to climate extremes.

CCDA-VII will focus on mobilizing action towards the achievement of the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

The ACPC, through the ClimDev Africa initiative, is already exploring the climate governance prospects for Africa structural transformation towards achieving the aspirations of Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Climate change is cross cutting. It affects every aspect of life, and our ability to achieve the SDGs or indeed any of the aspirations of agenda 2063 is constrained by climate change. Because of its cross cutting nature, climate governance is complex. It requires the participation of multiple stakeholders, with sometimes conflicting interests” said James.

With the support of DfID, the ACPC is also implementing the Weather and Climate Information Services (WISER) which seeks to promote the production and use of climate information, and contributes to building the capacities of hydrological and meteorological authorities across the continent.

The ACPC has also developed a five year programme which seeks to support African countries in building resilient infrastructure and economies.

Climate finance is however a major constraint to climate action.

The ACPC posits that “if local governments access decentralized climate finance, they should be empowered to disburse these climate funds for investment in priorities chosen with communities for adapting to climate change”.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh

Taking climate action has investment opportunities for Africans

Citizens of Africa have been urged to take advantage of investment opportunities that accompany climate action to earn some money and lift their people from poverty.

Secretary-General of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), Mithika Mwenda, has noted that the renewable energy revolution currently being witnessed in the world provides affordable access to energy to people who would otherwise not have access.

He noted that renewable energy has also aided in the reduction of emissions, thus contributing to the attainment of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) ambitions of countries.

“We are witnessing renewable energy revolution and in Africa and the rest of the world, this is an explosive sector,” observed Mithika. “We need to take advantage of the investment opportunities coming with climate action; there are a lot of resources in this to help address poverty”.

At the COP21 climate talks which produced the Paris Agreement, the G7 committed to allocate US$10 billion into the African Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI).

Though there are concerns with delivering the promise, the Initiative, in its current design, will help cure chronic energy poverty by supporting decentralized, modern, off-grid and people-owned energy systems not only for lighting, but also cooking, driving smallholder agribusiness and charging mobile phones.

Mithika added that green energy has helped save lives by reducing indoor pollution.

Fossil fuel vs. renewable energy economies

Mithika Mwenda was addressing an event on low-carbon and climate-resilient development, held on the sidelines of the 2018 African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Most African countries do not contribute any significant amount of greenhouse gases but there are commitments in their NDCs to ensure that their development pathways are carbon neutral.

In a climate-constrained world, investment in fossil fuel-based energy sources no longer makes sense.

But Africa faces the dilemma of whether to rapidly revert to renewable energy, have a mix of both fossil fuels and renewables, or ignore the global call and continue in the unsustainable model of development pursued by industrialized countries which brought the climate crisis.

What is evident, though, is the fact that the global community has shifted.

This shift should make African countries re-think their priority energy sources and investment in oil and in some instances coal, as it may not make economic sense in the long-run.

The Addis Ababa side-event, attended by climate actors from across the continent, is organized strategically to get African leaders to focus attention on climate change issues.

As the first Pan African convention after the COP23, the event offered an opportunity to exchange ideas and reflect on Africa’s victories during the Bonn Climate Change Conference, with a view of charting a collective path towards subsequent Global Dialogue processes on the subject.

“This gives us the platform to develop common African narratives that will have impact on the global stage,” said James Murombedzi, Officer-in-Charge of the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

Moving along the development pathway

Climate change is no longer discussed as a limited environmental or scientific matter but as a development issue.

African civil society therefore looks forward to leaders moving from the rhetoric to taking real action on the ground.

“The momentum for the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the NDCs is picking up, but the question is: are we moving with that pace in Africa?” queried Mithika.

Some countries on the continent have developed very effective policy and legal frameworks to facilitate the implementation in the areas of transparency, adaptation, loss and damage, among others.

But there are others stuck on bureaucracies to push the climate agenda forward.

“We need to think broader about what is the impact of climate change on development. What does it mean for agriculture? What does it mean for energy, for infrastructure? So we are really talking about development,” said Mithika.

He believes that the ClimDev-Africa programme can rally the African continent around in mobilizing action and “we need to ensure that critical centres that support the livelihoods of the African people and which are weather sensitive like agriculture are created”.

The Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) Programme is an initiative of the African Union Commission (AUC), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), established to create a solid foundation for Africa’s response to climate change.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh