Africa Shapes Its Climate Future in Addis

By Thuku Kariuki and Daniel Furnad -As droughts intensify, floods displace families, and food insecurity deepens, African leaders gathered in Addis Ababa with one urgent message: the continent cannot wait any longer for climate action. 

The 13th Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-XIII) set the tone for the upcoming 2nd Africa Climate Summit.

Hosted by Ethiopian President Abiy Ahmed, the conference made climate finance the central plank of every discussion. Delegates insisted that adaptation and loss and damage must be at the heart of global climate action and warned that Africa cannot shoulder an estimated US$160 billion adaptation gap alone. 

They demanded that the Loss and Damage Fund be operationalized immediately, on terms that are fair and accessible to the countries bearing the brunt of climate shocks.

Claver Gatete, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), set the tone: “Africa is not waiting to be acted upon. 

We are shaping our destiny, leveraging our resources, and bringing solutions to the world.” The refrain, from plenary halls to bilateral corridors, was that Africa will move from plea to plan.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) was a visible presence, co-organizing sessions and running Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Clinics designed to help countries align policy, strengthen capacity and build bankable investment plans. 

Anthony Nyong, Director of Climate Change and Green Growth at AfDB, pulled no punches on the financing imbalance: “Despite contributing less than 4% of global emissions, our continent receives only 3% of international climate finance, even as nine of the ten most climate-vulnerable countries are here. This gap is unacceptable.” 

He highlighted the bank’s response, institutional reforms, new financing instruments, and a plan to mobilize $4 billion through the Climate Action Window by 2025 to support fragile and vulnerable states.

Delegates at the Conference

But the tone in Addis was not supplicant. Delegates put forward Africa’s own, ambitious financing blueprint: a shift from aid dependence to strategic investment, mobilising between $2.5 and $3 trillion annually by 2030. 

They proposed expanding green bonds, blended finance, and other instruments while insisting that at least 10% of climate flows should go toward building Africa’s green workforce,  an explicit nod to youth employment and skills development.

Energy policy conversations threaded a central dilemma: how to extend electricity to more than 600 million Africans who still lack access while keeping the transition green and just. 

Delegates argued that universal energy access must be the foundation of Africa’s transition strategy, not an afterthought. At the same time, they urged investment in critical-mineral value chains and positioned the continent as a potential global hub for green hydrogen and renewable-power industrialisation.

Science, data and local knowledge were also elevated from background notes to centre stage. James Kinyangi, Coordinator of the ClimDev-Africa Special Fund at AfDB, warned that policy without reliable data is policy without teeth: “Without closing knowledge gaps, our people remain exposed to risks we cannot anticipate or manage. Investing in climate data and early warning is not optional,  it is essential for saving lives and building resilience.” 

Delegates called for integrated climate monitoring, stronger early-warning systems, and better fusion of indigenous wisdom with modern technology.

Nature protection emerged as both moral and strategic priority. The conference framed Africa’s forests, wetlands and peatlands as global lifelines that require proper valuation and higher international investment. 

Delegates urged the mainstreaming of circular-economy principles into Nationally Determined Contributions and stronger stewardship to protect ecosystems that sequester carbon and underpin communities’ livelihoods.

Governance was another recurring theme. The African Union was urged to build a continental climate-governance architecture while national governments were pushed to embed climate action into broader development planning. 

Strengthened negotiating capacity was flagged as essential,  not just to secure finance but to ensure that agreements translate into accessible, on-the-ground outcomes.

As the conference closed and attention shifted toward the summit’s final declaration on September 10, speakers framed CCDA-XIII as a bridge,  between evidence and ambition, technical detail and political momentum. 

Gatete returned to the refrain: “This conference was not an end in itself. It is a bridge that links evidence with ambition, technical depth with political momentum, and Africa’s aspirations with actions.”

If Addis produced a single takeaway, it was this: Africa intends to lead its own climate future, demanding funds, building markets, protecting nature, and investing in knowledge, and to do it with both urgency and agency.