Growing role seen for Africa in climate fight

Africa's push for climate solutions took center stage on Monday as leaders from across the continent convened for the Second Africa Climate Summit, with Africa positioning itself as a global driver of climate solutions.

At the summit, which opened on Monday in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, leaders convened to showcase homegrown innovations, call for increased climate financing, and assert Africa's role as a solutions-oriented partner ahead of key global negotiations later this year, including the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP30, to be held in Brazil, and the G20 Leaders' Summit in South Africa.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, who inaugurated the climate summit, stressed that Africa must not remain a continent of negotiators, but must become a continent of solutions, and he called on global partners to provide "real investment, not charity".

He presented Ethiopia's bid to host COP32 in 2027 and unveiled the Africa Climate Innovation Compact, a flagship initiative aimed at producing 1,000 African climate innovators by 2030.

"Ethiopia's Green Legacy (initiative) has cooled our land and restored our soil; the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is powering a clean, shared future and driving Pan-African regional integration for a greener Africa," Abiy said. The dam, which is expected to be inaugurated during the three-day summit, will be the biggest hydroelectric dam in Africa.

The summit, hosted by the Ethiopian government in collaboration with the African Union Commission, has the theme "Accelerating Global Climate Solutions: Financing for Africa's Resilient and Green Development". It brings together heads of state, policymakers and climate experts to forge a unified African voice on climate action and advance sustainable development.

Highlighting Africa's vulnerability despite minimal contributions to global emissions, Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud highlighted the disproportionate impact of climate change on African nations, noting the human toll of climate shocks in the region.

"Between 2021 and 2023, our country endured the most severe drought in four decades, affecting 7.8 million people, nearly half the (Somalian) population," he said, citing widespread food insecurity, loss of livelihood and displacement.

Adding to the call for global collaboration, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, chairperson of the African Union Commission, emphasized the importance of climate financing that is "fair, significant and predictable".

Addressing the summit delegates, Youssouf said that the vulnerability of "our member countries, caused by climate change, debt burden and the structural inequalities of the international financial architecture, must be redressed through climate justice and genuine cooperation for the implementation of our continent's adaptation plans by providing financial resources, technology and expertise".

He further stressed that Africa's position reflects both its global obligations and its call for responsibilities that are differentiated from those of wealthier nations, underlining the need for equitable climate partnerships.

Kenyan President William Ruto, who chairs the African Heads of State Committee on Climate Change, reflected on progress since the inaugural Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, in 2023, calling for continued unity and warning against approaches that prioritize short-term gains over long-term climate resilience.

At that time, "we framed Africa as a continent of opportunity and solutions, not just a victim. Today, African entrepreneurs and communities are innovating across green infrastructure, climate-smart agriculture, landscape restoration, and even cutting-edge technologies like direct air capture," he said.

Ruto added that the Second Africa Climate Summit builds on the Nairobi Declaration of 2023, which had set a target of expanding Africa's renewable energy generation to 300 gigawatts by 2030. Achieving this, he said, will require approximately $600 billion in reforms to the global financial architecture, operation of the loss and damage fund, and a strengthened African role in integrity-based carbon markets.

He emphasized that climate action must be aligned with economic growth, industrialization and job creation, framing green development as a vehicle for continental prosperity.

African leaders stressed that realizing climate-positive growth requires both internal action and structural support from the international system.

Key priorities include lowering the cost of capital, expanding concessional finance, mobilizing private investment, integrating climate factors into lending, and opening global markets to Africa's value-added goods, from climate-smart agriculture to green industrial products.

"Now is the time to scale the workforce," Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy said. "Now is the time to accelerate our collective action. This is not charity; it is the most strategic investment humanity can make.

"Africa is ready to lead, and we invite the world to witness our solutions in action," he added.