Addis Ababa, Ethiopia–A major discussion point at the Second Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa is a shift in how African leaders address climate finance. The central question is how to “shift from aid to investment in local innovation,” and to assess whether current grant-based climate finance is truly fit for its purpose.
The goal of the summit is to reposition Africa not just as vulnerable to climate impacts, but as a global leader and innovator in climate solutions, and to explore how funding can be unlocked through these solutions.
Positioning Africa as a global leader in climate solutions marked a shift in the inaugural Africa Climate summit held in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2023, where African leaders demanded an increase in funding from developed nations.
According to Ethiopia’s Minister of Planning and Development and the summit’s National Coordinator, Dr. Fitsum Assefa, this is more than just another conference. “It is a defining moment,” she said. “The message from Ethiopia, from Africa, and from all our partners is clear: Yes, Africa is a victim of climate change, but it is also providing climate solutions.”
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Co-convened by the African Union Commission (AUC) and hosted by the Ethiopian government, the biannual summit is being held at the Addis Ababa International Convention Center (AICC) under the theme: “Accelerating Global Climate Solutions: Financing for Africa’s Resilient and Green Development.
The summit, which runs from September 8-10, with pre-summit events held on September 6-7, is designed to showcase innovative, nature-based solutions and broader green growth strategies. With over 25,000 delegates and more than 200 side events, the gathering aims to accelerate African-led solutions by leveraging both domestic and international financing. Leaders will push for the reform of grant-based climate finance to ensure it is more accessible, targeted, and aligned with Africa’s priorities.
A key expected outcome is the adoption of the Addis Ababa Declaration, a unified African position that will guide the continent’s stance at the upcoming Conference of the Parties (COP30) in Brazil. The declaration will feature a flagship report highlighting some 130 climate initiatives and several financial and other commitments.
Despite contributing less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, Africa bears a disproportionate burden from climate change, resulting in unpredictable weather patterns, prolonged droughts, devastating floods, and desert locust invasions. These impacts manifest differently across the continent’s diverse regions. In East Africa, for instance, extreme droughts have led to severe food shortages, displacement, and conflict, particularly in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya.
The Sahel region is facing increasing desertification as the Sahara Desert expands southward, shrinking arable land in countries like Chad, Mali, and Niger, and fueling insecurity.
Southern Africa faces a mix of extreme weather events, with countries like Mozambique and Zimbabwe hit by intense cyclones and floods, while others, like Zambia, experience severe droughts. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is highly vulnerable to rising temperatures and widespread flooding.
This region is also home to the Congo Basin, the world’s second-largest rainforest, which faces direct threats from both deforestation and the effects of climate change. In West Africa, Nigeria, Liberia, and Ghana are experiencing floods, leaving coastal communities homeless.
Scientific data underscore the scale of this crisis. According to the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced a 34% decline in agricultural productivity since the 1960s due to climate shifts, affecting 60% of Africans reliant on rain-fed farming. The report also highlights that the Congo Basin Rainforest, a critical carbon sink, is degrading at alarming rates, with deforestation claiming 500,000 hectares yearly.
Despite these challenges, some African countries are taking bold climate action. Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative planted 40 billion seedlings between 2019 and 2023. Kenya is committed to achieving 100% renewable energy by 2030. The Democratic Republic of Congo is making efforts to conserve the Congo Basin, and the Great Green Wall initiative is restoring 100 million hectares of degraded land across the Sahel. These efforts, which often exceed Africa’s “fair share” under the climate change regime, demonstrate the continent’s focus on homegrown solutions.
For years, climate finance has been a major point of contention. African leaders have consistently demanded that developed nations, as the major emitters, provide funding for mitigation and adaptation projects. While united in a call for developed countries to raise $1.3 trillion annually in climate finance, negotiators at past Conference of the Parties have agreed on a looser call for a wide range of sources, including private investment, to raise that amount by 2035.
On September 7 and 8, Teresa Ribera, the European Commission Executive Vice-President for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, will represent the commission at a summit to highlight the importance of the EU-Africa strategic partnership on climate action.
According to a press statement, “The ACS2 is a milestone on the road to COP30 and the upcoming AU-EU Summit.” Through its Team Europe Initiative, the EU is fostering joint approaches and partnerships to reduce vulnerability. The statement adds, “The EU is investing in Africa’s economy and climate resilience, with the ambition to mobilize EUR 150 billion in investments by 2027.”
At the same time, the EU believes Africa has the potential to be a driving force in the global climate transition by harnessing its abundant renewable energy resources and empowering its young population to drive innovation.
Adaptation and mitigation are two ways scientists have identified to address climate change and slow global warming. An example of adaptation is the development of drought-resistant crops. Mitigation efforts include building sea walls to protect against rising sea levels and creating early warning systems for extreme weather events
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According to the official program, the summit will feature sessions on a wide variety of relevant subjects, including “Climate, mobility, peace, and security in Africa,” Accelerating Finance for climate finance and debt relief: Unlocking Africa’s Green and Resistance Future, “Africa’s Climate Finance Demand ahead of COP30, and “Sustainable and Decarbonization opportunities. Strategies to increase climate adaptation efforts across Africa.”
Out of the fifty-four African heads of state, only five leaders are listed as speakers to grace to the occasion, including the president of Angola, João Lourenço, the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Félix Tshisekedi, the President of Kenya, William Ruto, and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed Ali.
Other speakers include UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Chairperson of the African Union Commission: H.E. Mahamoud Ali Youssouf (Djibouti), the Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): H.E. Simon Stiell (Grenada).
He was appointed to this position in August 2022, and the COP29 President: H.E. Mukhtar Babayev (Azerbaijan).
They will all present their agenda on the theme and offer ways Africa can transition from aid to investment in climate finance solutions.