Africa calls for reframing global climate action with science, finance

Addis Ababa, Sep 6 (IANS) African Group of Negotiators (AGN) and the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) have called for a reframing of global climate action to be science-driven and responsive to Africa's growing vulnerability to climate change.

Speaking at the 13th Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, on Friday, AGN Chair Richard Muyungi said the continent cannot afford to depend solely on externally driven data and models of climate action.

"African science must take centre stage in guiding climate action and adaptation," said Muyungi, while calling for adoption of needs-based climate finance, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the chairman, Africa is entering a new phase of climate diplomacy with a deeper understanding of its ecological wealth backed by scientific knowledge.

"Climate finance is not charity, but it is a right, a duty, and a measure of trust," Muyungi said, urging developed nations to finance climate adaptation activities in Africa and least developed countries worldwide.

Mithika Mwenda, executive director of the PACJA, highlighted that Africa contributes the least to global greenhouse gas emissions but is among the hardest hit by climate impacts.

"Achieving Africa's climate goals by 2030 will require close to $3 trillion. Yet Africa receives barely 3 to 4 per cent of global climate finance flows. This is unacceptable," Mwenda said.

The executive director added that one of the biggest failures in global climate action is the exclusion of Africa's most vulnerable populations from decision-making processes.

"We must push for structural reforms in the international financial architecture and demand full, timely, and fair access to the Loss and Damage Fund of climate change," Mwenda said.

More than 110 million Africans were affected by climate disasters in 2024, mainly by floods across the Sahel, droughts in Southern Africa, and unprecedented heatwaves that scorched farmland in the north, according to the executive director.

The conference, which runs until Sunday, brought together government officials, academia, researchers, and others under the theme "Empowering Africa's Climate Action with Science, Finance, and Just Transition."

--IANS

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