African civil society denounces Trump’s “Climate Hoax” remarks as dangerous and irresponsible

The Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) has described as “reckless” remarks made by US President Donald Trump at the United Nations General Assembly, where he dismissed climate change as the “greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”.

Trump called the carbon footprint “a hoax”. 

But PACJA, the umbrella body of Africa CSOs on climate change, says such statements are scientifically false and morally indefensible.

“For millions of Africans, climate change is not a debate. It is a daily reality,” said Dr. Mithika Mwenda, Executive Director of PACJA. “From prolonged droughts in the Horn of Africa, to deadly cyclones in Mozambique, to unprecedented floods displacing communities in West Africa, the crisis is exacting a devastating toll. Africa contributes the least to global emissions yet bears the brunt of its impacts. When powerful leaders mock the climate emergency, they undermine the global solidarity urgently needed to save lives and livelihoods”. 

According to PACJA, Trump’s rhetoric emboldens climate denial, delays global action, and distracts from the responsibility of industrialized nations to lead in reducing emissions.

“The science is clear: without decisive mitigation, Africa faces a future of deepening hunger, water stress, conflict over scarce resources, and forced migration. Denying this reality is an insult to the children who go to bed hungry after crops fail, to the women walking longer distances for water, and to the young Africans whose futures are shrinking under the weight of an unjust crisis,” said a statement from Dr. Mwenda. 

PACJA calls on all responsible leaders to reject climate denialism in every form, emphasizing that the global community cannot afford to treat science as opinion or justice as optional.

“We remind world leaders that the Paris Agreement was not built on ideology, but on evidence and fairness. Its survival depends on recognizing that addressing climate change is not charity, it is justice. 

“We urge the United Nations, governments, and civil society worldwide to reaffirm their commitment to climate action, to stand with vulnerable communities, and to expose rhetoric that risks the lives of billions. It is our collective duty to uphold and amplify the truth: that climate change is real, urgent, and inseparable from the struggle for justice and survival,” said PACJA.

The group says members will continue to mobilise African voices to ensure that no amount of rhetoric, no matter how powerful the speaker, derails the urgent task of protecting lives, ecosystems, and the future of our planet. 

By Kofi Adu Domfeh

350 Africa Responds to US Withdrawal from the Just Energy Transition Partnership

The United States has announced its withdrawal from the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with South Africa, signaling a troubling retreat from global climate leadership and an abandonment of vital financial commitments to the world’s most climate-impacted nations.

South Africa, the first country to secure a JETP agreement, was set to receive over $1.5 billion in financial support from the US to transition from coal to renewable energy; however, their exit now leaves a significant funding gap.

This decision follows a troubling pattern of the United States rolling back its climate commitments, including its earlier announcement to exit the Paris Agreement.

The US’s pullback from the JETP marks a dangerous precedent, particularly as the world faces an escalating climate crisis and growing inequality.

“By withdrawing from the JETP, the United States is abandoning its responsibility to support countries like South Africa, which are on the frontlines of the climate crisis and will now face an even steeper climb in achieving its clean energy commitments,” said Landry Ninteretse, 350Africa’s Regional Director. “This is a regressive step, and a betrayal of the trust placed in wealthy nations to honor their financial obligations towards the global transition to clean energy. The US must recognize that climate justice requires concrete, sustained support for developing nations, not retreat from multilateral commitments.”

350Africa calls on South Africa and its remaining international partners to ensure the momentum of the energy transition is not stalled.

South Africa’s commitment to a clean and equitable energy future is more important than ever, and efforts must be made to secure alternative sources of funding to fill the gap left by the US’s retreat.

Tshepo Peele, South Africa Team Lead, said “while the US withdrawal from JETP certainly impacts the financial framework for South Africa’s energy transition, the urgency of a just, renewable-powered future remains unchanged. South Africa must continue to honor its climate commitments, and this moment should push the government to accelerate its plans for a green economy, moving away from coal and scaling up renewables.

“With South Africa hosting the G20 this year, it presents a crucial opportunity to strengthen the country's climate leadership, advocate for increased international support, and prioritize forging new, stronger partnerships with countries and institutions committed to ensuring a just and equitable energy transition.”

 

 

Egypt, US announce over $150 million to aid Africa’s Adaptation to Climate Change

A major package of support of over USD$150 million for adaptation has been launched at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. 

The package was announced at a special session on "Advancing Adaptation Action in Africa" co-hosted by H.E. Sameh Shoukry, COP27 President, and United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry.  

COP President Shoukry speaking at the events said: “The key challenge for African countries is to access funding for climate action. Recognizing that progress towards adapting to climate consequences and enhancing resilience is crucially needed, we launched a couple of days ago here at COP27 the Sharm-El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda. This agenda comprises a total of 30 global adaptation outcome targets by 2030 that are urgently needed to address the adaptation gap and increase the resilience of 4 billion people through accelerating transformation across five impact systems: food and agriculture, water and nature, coastal and oceans, human settlements, and infrastructure.”

COP27 President H.E, Shoukry further said: “Egypt as COP27 President and as an African nation, is well aware of the adaptation challenges facing our continent, and we are pleased to have collaborated over the past year with the United States to develop a diverse package of support for Africa in the field of adaptation and resilience.”

As part of the US Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE), has seen the US double its Adaptation Fund Pledge to USD $100 million, and the Accelerating Adaptation in Africa initiative provides USD $150 million in support to accelerate PREPARE’s work across the continent.

The Adaptation in Africa initiative previously announced in June 2022 by President Biden and President El-Sisi has the potential to result in USD $4-10 of benefits for every dollar invested.  It now includes support from the US for:

USD $13.6 million for a Systematic Observations Financing Facility that will help fill weather, water, and climate observation gaps in Africa. 

 

USD $15 million to support the co-development and deployment of early-warning systems in Africa to cut the number of people who need emergency assistance in half by 2030 - and from 200 million to just 10 million by 2050. 

 

USD $10 million to support the capacity building of Africa’s current and future decision makers. This includes USD $10 million to support the launch of a new adaptation center in Egypt – the Cairo Center for Learning and Excellence on Adaptation and Resilience, announced by Egypt, to build adaptation capacity across Africa. 

 

USD $2 million to the Resilience and Adaptation Mainstreaming Program to build the capacity of governments to manage climate risks and access finance.

 

USD $3.5 million in support for the Least Developed Countries Initiative for Effective Adaptation & Resilience, helping African countries like Uganda, Malawi, Gambia, and Burkina Faso to enhance access to adaptation finance for the most vulnerable.

 

Expanding access to risk-based insurance for the most vulnerable by supporting regional risk insurance pools, including contributing USD $12 million to the Africa Disaster Risk Financing Program and USD $12 million to ARC Ltd.

 

USD $25 million to the African Union’s flagship Africa Adaptation Initiative (AAI), which is hosted by the Egyptian government, to launch the AAI Food Security Accelerator, which will dramatically speed- and scale-up private sector investments in climate resilient food security in Africa.

 

Encouraging private sector innovation through USD $3.8 million to CRAFT TA Facility, and USD $2 million to launch an adaptation window of the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance to help develop new financial instruments and mechanisms to harness private investment in adaptation.

 

USD $100 million in adaptation funding in FY 2022 to support food systems. 

The President of the United States of America also announced the launch of a new initiative to support Egypt in deploying 10GW of new wind and solar energy while decommissioning five GW of inefficient natural gas generation.

 

Special Envoy Kerry said: “We are completely committed to working together with our partners to support vulnerable communities in their efforts to, sadly, have to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Something that everyone whether in developed, developing or emerging economies are impacted by.”

 

Earlier this week in a statement released via the US Embassy in Cairo, Kerry stated that “unprecedented” investment in clean energy is needed to limit warming to 1.5°C and avert catastrophic climate impacts on communities worldwide. His statement added that “annual clean energy investment must triple to $4.2 trillion by 2030” with over half of that investment needed for emerging and developing economies.

 

The "Advancing Adaptation Action in Africa" event was immediately followed by a second event, also jointly hosted by Egypt and the United States, addressing “Accelerating mitigation ambition while ensuring energy security” placing focus on providing support for the Egyptian Nexus of Water-Food-Energy (NWFE) program.

 

At COP27, Egypt signed partnerships for its NWFE program to support the implementation of climate initiatives with investments worth $15 billion. This includes an energy project worth $10 billion and eight food security, agriculture, irrigation, and water projects.

 

“I wish to thank the United States for the extremely constructive collaboration we have had over the past year in developing this package, which demonstrates the commitment of both Egypt and the United States to the cause of adaptation in Africa, and is indeed an exemplary representation of the COP27 mantra of implementation and action,” concluded COP27 President H.E. Shoukry.

 

 

African CSOs on Climate Change welcome election of Joe Biden

The Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) welcomes the election of Joe Biden as the next president of the United States (US) and urges him to keep his promise of returning America to the Paris Agreement on the very first day of his administration.

African civil society organisations are cautiously hopeful that the Biden administration and American leadership will rekindle dwindling global enthusiasm in addressing the climate crisis and will hold it accountable for inaction that keeps the world on a path to catastrophic climate change, Dr Mithika Mwenda, Executive Director of PACJA, said following Biden’s election.  

“Millions of Africans are already dying from the adverse impacts of climate change, despite playing an insignificant role in creating the current crisis. America’s leadership in addressing climate change is not only sensible but fair to disproportionately affected communities in Africa and other developing countries,” Dr Mwenda said.

Alone, the US has cumulated more carbon dioxide emissions than any other country since the industrial revolution. In 2017. The US accounted for roughly 16 per cent of global emissions with the pumping of 5.1 billion metric tons of energy-related CO2 into the atmosphere.

Yet on November 4, the US formerly left the Paris Agreement. America’s departure from the landmark agreement intended to mobilise a strong global response to the climate crisis kicked in a year after the outgoing president Donald Trump notified the United Nations of his intention.

By leaving the Paris Agreement, the US abandons a promise to the world “to achieve an economy-wide target of reducing its emissions by 26-28 per cent below its 2005 level in 2025 and to make best efforts to reduce its emissions by 28 per cent” or 21 per cent of all current pledges by every other country under the Paris Agreement.

The US’ Paris Agreement withdrawal has raised fears of “a cascade of defections” or at best a slowdown in vital global action. For the developing world, reduced funding could mean that most countries are unable to fulfil their conditional emission reduction and adaptation pledges.

Joe Biden, who has won the 2020 presidential election in the United States says he will re-join the agreement on the very first day of his administration. It is expected that under Biden, the US will have “the most progressive” position on climate change in the nation’s history and Biden has already pledged a USD 2 trillion investment package in clean energy and infrastructure.

America’s participation in the Paris Agreement and in leading the global effort to address the climate crisis is vital for multiple reasons. At the top of the list is the US’s historical responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions, which are the main drivers of global warming. In its first Nationally Determined Contribution, the US pledged a “path to deep decarbonisation” that could lead to an 80 per cent emission reduction by 2050 or more.

The Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance welcomes the prospect of America’s recommitment to this goal under the Biden administration.

“America is a significant player in the push back against catastrophic climate change and must take leadership in emission reductions,” adds Dr Mwenda. “The absence of the US from the Paris Agreement not only raises the risk of missing significant emission cuts but could potentially weaken ambition from other countries and put the world on a path where capping mean temperature rise at 2⁰ Celsius becomes more unlikely.”  

Fossil fuel industry fingered for delayed climate action

The fossil fuel industry has been active in lobbying for delays in global climate action as they stand to make enormous amounts of money when the process is stalled.

If the targets of the Paris Agreement on climate change to reduce emissions are to be met, the fossil fuel industry will be losing money.

A study on “Revolving doors and the fossil fuels industry”, presented by the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament at the Bonn Climate Talks in Bonn this week, is calling for the adoption of a strong conflict of interest policy that would avoid the disproportionate influence of the fossil fuel actors on the international climate change negotiations.

The report gathers studies of revolving doors between the fossil fuel industry and high level politicians, Ministers, regulators and advisors, and questions whether the EU and European governments’ lack appetite to deal with this issue is a result of the cozy relationships built up with the fossil fuel sector over the years.

According to Max Andersson, Swedish Greens Member of the European Parliament, the revolving door between politics and the fossil lobby is a serious cause for alarm.

“If we are to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and keep global warming down to as close to 1.5 degrees as possible, we need to clamp down on conflicts of interest to stop coal, gas and oil from leaving their dirty fingerprints over our climate policy,” he said.

The demand to tackle conflicts of interest within the UNFCCC has been raised by governments representing over 70% of the world’s population and civil society organizations from across the globe and is supported by the European Parliament.

However, progress has been slow, notably, because the European Commission had been siding with Canada and the USA to block discussions on conflict of interest from appearing on the UNFCCC agenda.

The Africa Group of negotiators has stated that there needs to be restrictions on business participations in the negotiations because engagement by vested interest “threatens the integrity and legitimacy of the UNFCCC process” and the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Augustine Njamnshi, Chair of Political and Technical Affairs at the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), says there is no basis to delay climate action.

“It is in our interest to ensure that those who come here; those who come to the discussion table are there for real business to solve this climate crisis because the more we delay, the more endangering the continent of Africa and other developing countries,” he said.

The report by the Greens/FFA Group concludes that there is a need to adopt conflicts of interest policies at the UN, EU and national levels to safeguard public interest policy-making from the disproportionate influence of vested interest, which is particularly urgent when it comes to climate negotiations.

“European governments need to support the call for a common sense conflict of interest policy so that the next COP can deliver outcome that will put the world on the road towards a climate in balance,” said Max.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh

Least Developed Countries respond to US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement

Following President Trump's announcement of his intention to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group has expressed disappointment in the decision but emphasised that global climate momentum will continue with or without the US.

The group represents nearly one billion people in the 48 poorest countries in the world.

Chair of the LDC group, Gebru Jember Endalew, said: "It is deeply disappointing to see the US shirking its responsibilities as a member of the global community. We are already seeing the impacts of climate change with record droughts, flooding and heat waves recently faced around the world. For LDCs the impacts are especially devastating; as the poorest countries in the world we are highly vulnerable but the least capable to respond to the threat of climate change. By refusing to commit to ambitious action on climate change President Trump is showing disregard for the lives of millions around the world."

"In Paris the world united with a call for climate action and the wave of momentum now behind the Agreement cannot be slowed by one country deciding to sit on the sidelines. Many countries have taken up the mantle of global climate leadership through ambitious climate policies and innovation, and the US has lost a seat at this table."

"The international community won't wait for the US to catch up. Transformations in technology, consumption patterns and demand for clean, green innovations are charging ahead of political will around the world. Countries are learning that taking advantage of these innovations is not only smart for the climate, but smart for the economy. Joining the transition to a green economy means embracing business opportunities that are beneficial for all."

"The US is only one country. I urge global leaders not to let President Trump's decision to distract us from the important work we need to do to achieve the vital goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement. I also invite President Trump to reconsider his decision. Let us continue to work together to build a safe world for present and future generations."