The Fourteenth Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-14) concluded today in Addis Ababa with a comprehensive set of key messages urging the continent to move from climate participation to climate agency, and from pledges to implementation, as it prepares for COP31 in Antalya and an African-hosted COP32 in Addis Ababa in 2027.
Convened under the Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) Programme — a joint initiative of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in partnership with the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) — the three-day conference brought together policymakers, negotiators, financial institutions, researchers, civil society, youth, women and the private sector under the theme “From Pledges to Implementation: The Belém–Antalya–Addis Roadmap.”
Closing the conference, ECA Deputy Executive Secretary Hanan Morsy said CCDA-14 called for a coherent African climate agenda anchored in equity, sustainable development, accountability and African ownership. She urged Africa to strengthen its climate agency by shaping global governance, mobilizing transformative finance, and advancing science, technology and innovation. The conference called for Africa’s road to COP31 and COP32 to prioritize predictable, adequate, accessible and non-debt-creating climate finance; stronger institutions; enhanced data and innovation capacities; and scaled investment in adaptation and early warning that benefits cities, local governments and vulnerable communities. It emphasized that climate action must drive economic transformation through regional integration, industrialization, critical-minerals management, circular and bioeconomy approaches, food security, peace and resilient urban development — underpinned by just, inclusive and gender-responsive transition pathways.
Earlier in the week, ECA Executive Secretary Claver Gatete said Africa’s climate story “should not be defined by vulnerability alone,” urging the continent to “press for climate justice and greater international support, while harnessing Africa’s assets to help shape the rules, investments and solutions driving global climate action.” AUC Commissioner Moses Vilakati said the conference “asks us to move beyond the question of what Africa should seek from COP31… to what Africa should propose to the world.”
AfDB’s James Kinyangi said “Africa is not merely a victim of climate change. We are a source of solutions,” while Afreximbank’s Olubunmi Obasanjo-Williams told delegates “vulnerability is not the full African story.” For his part, Mithika Mwenda of PACJA urged delegates to move “from declaration to delivery.”
Delegates were told Africa contributes less than 4 per cent of global emissions yet needs about $277 billion a year to implement its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) through 2030, with current flows covering only around 11 per cent of that need.
The conference adopted a wide-ranging agenda covering climate finance, governance, science and innovation, just transitions, circular economy, adaptation, agriculture, and climate, peace and security.
On climate finance, delegates called on developed countries to honour obligations under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement to provide predictable, adequate and accessible climate finance. Financing must be structurally transformational, move beyond project-centric approaches, and strengthen domestic fiscal institutions and African-owned financing mechanisms. Adaptation was framed as an investment, not a cost, with returns embedded in national planning, budgets and multilateral development bank decisions.
On global climate governance, CCDA-14 said Africa needs a coherent position grounded in equity, development priorities and the right to development, safeguarding its policy space and natural-resource use. While the UNFCCC remains indispensable, African climate diplomacy must also engage international financial institutions, trade and technology regimes, and standard-setting processes.
On carbon pricing and Article 6, the conference said carbon pricing can support climate and development goals when tailored to national circumstances and backed by rigorous cost-benefit analysis and strong monitoring, reporting and verification. Africa should shift from capacity-building toward functional, high-integrity carbon markets that mobilize private capital and deliver tangible community benefits.
On science, innovation and data, delegates said Africa must move from climate data generation to integrated, decision-ready climate-risk intelligence linked to bankable investment and stronger finance accountability. Indigenous and local knowledge, and gender-responsive science, must be embedded, with stronger science-policy linkages to inform decision-making.
On early warning, CCDA-14 called for an integrated early-warning value chain connecting observation, forecasting, communication, anticipatory action, financing and response. The Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF) should be expanded to all countries in need, with resources ring-fenced for National Meteorological and Hydrological Services.
On just transitions and critical minerals, the conference said African agency is essential to ensure critical minerals and the energy transition deliver industrialization, energy security and inclusive growth. A just energy transition must deliver a just minerals transition, with mineral-producing countries capturing a fair share of value, technology, revenues and jobs through local processing and beneficiation.
On circular economy, delegates said the approach should be pursued as a competitiveness, development and transformation agenda, advancing resilience, green industrialization and job creation. National development and climate frameworks, including NDCs and NAPs, should systematically integrate circular economy approaches.
On adaptation and urban leadership, cities must be recognized as primary receiving systems for climate-related mobility and displacement, with secure land, housing and services treated as adaptation infrastructure. Climate mobility, housing and urban resilience should be integrated into NDCs and NAPs, with direct, predictable finance for cities and local governments.
On agriculture and food systems, the conference said agriculture should be redefined as a climate-resilient agrifood system and a central pillar of climate negotiations, with food security a non-negotiable outcome of climate action.
On climate, peace and security, delegates said climate change is a risk multiplier for peace, security and social cohesion. The African Union and Member States should finalize, adopt and operationalize the Common African Position on Climate, Peace and Security.
To carry the agenda forward, CCDA-14 established six working committees — on climate finance and carbon markets, agriculture and food systems, just transition and critical minerals, circular economy, and adaptation and climate change and development — each composed of a Chair, Alternate Chair, Secretary and six to ten technical experts representing Africa’s diverse regions.
Coordinated by the ClimDev-Africa Secretariat, the committees will integrate outcomes from COP31, including the Belém–Antalya–Addis Roadmap, and prepare a consolidated report for CCDA-XV, assessing the state of climate finance delivery in Africa and recommending priority actions on the road to COP32, which Ethiopia will host in Addis Ababa in November 2027.
