Addis Ababa — As COP31 approaches, Africa must transition from a narrative of victimhood to becoming a driver of global climate solutions, a senior UN official declared at a major conference in Ethiopia’s capital.
Africa has voiced its concerns and demanded fairness for many years, but the continent must now become part of the solutions and a driver of the way forward, said Claver Gatete, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
Opening the 14th Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-XIV) in Addis Ababa on Monday, Gatete stressed that Africa must not allow its disproportionate vulnerability to define its climate story. While the continent contributes less than four percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, it bears some of the heaviest consequences of climate change.
“While this remains an unfortunate reality for our continent, we must not allow it to limit Africa’s climate story to one of victimhood,” Gatete declared. He called on African nations to harness the continent’s enormous renewable energy potential, critical mineral resources, young population, and expanding markets to shape global climate action.
Financing Gap Remains Critical Hurdle
Despite the call for leadership, Gatete highlighted a stark financial reality: Africa faces an estimated $277 billion annual climate financing gap through 2030 to implement its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Current climate finance flows cover only about 11 percent of this requirement.
“The question is not simply how much finance we mobilize. We must also ask: At what cost? On what terms? And what development outcomes will it deliver?” Gatete cautioned.
For countries already grappling with high debt-service costs and limited fiscal space, financing that adds to unsustainable debt burdens will only make implementation harder, he warned. The ECA chief emphasized the urgent need for more grants and highly concessional financing to avoid exacerbating debt pressures.
From Pledges to Implementation
The three-day conference, held under the theme “From Pledges to Implementation: The Belém Antalya–Addis Roadmap,” aims to shape Africa’s position ahead of COP31 in Antalya, Turkey, later this year. It will also lay groundwork for COP32, which Ethiopia is set to host in Addis Ababa in 2027.
Gatete stressed that preparing for COP31 requires asking not only what Africa expects from the international community, but also what Africa itself is proposing. This means contributing credible proposals on climate finance, adaptation, energy, trade, technology, and governance to the global climate process.
Leveraging Africa’s Assets
The ECA chief highlighted that climate action must go hand-in-hand with expanding electricity access for more than 600 million Africans without power, developing productive capacity, and creating jobs. He pointed to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a key platform for processing local resources and building cross-border value chains at scale.
CCDA-XIV is expected to produce the “Addis Ababa Climate Action Messages,” which will frame concrete African proposals for COP31 and pave the way toward COP32. The outcomes will test whether Africa can successfully transform its climate narrative from one of victimhood to one of leadership.
