African leaders on Monday emphasized the need to redefine the continent’s role in global climate action, positioning it as a crucial player in shaping the future climate economy.
They made the call during the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2), held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa from Monday to Wednesday under the theme “Accelerating Global Climate Solutions: Financing for Africa’s Resilient and Green Development.”
Charting Africa’s common climate future, African leaders at the summit highlighted the potential of African-led solutions in renewable energy, climate adaptation, green growth and nature-based resilience.
Delegates walk past a backdrop for the ACS2 during the opening of the High-Level Leaders Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, September 8, 2025. /VCG
‘Africa didn’t cause crisis, but can solve it’
Proposing the launch of the African Climate Innovation Compact, a continent-wide partnership uniting research institutions, leadership, startups, rural communities and innovators, to African leaders at the summit, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed emphasized that, with the right partnership and investments, Africa can take the lead in solving the global climate crisis.
He said the continent is endowed with unique assets, including a burgeoning young population bursting with creativity and innovation, vast arable land capable of feeding a growing continent and beyond, as well as the fastest-growing solar belt on earth.
“Africa did not cause this crisis, yet Africa can lead in solving it. We have the solutions to restore degraded lands, to capture carbon, and to produce green and clean power. We know what needs to be done,” Abiy said, highlighting the East African country’s own climate action records, including the Green Legacy Initiative that saw 48 billion trees planted since its launch in 2019, as well as critical green infrastructure development initiatives.
According to the Ethiopian prime minister, the proposed climate compact, structured around five pillars of innovation discovery, financing, knowledge development, policy enablement and public engagement, aims to deliver 1,000 African climate solutions by 2030 across energy, agriculture, water, transport and resilience by mobilizing African leadership, global partnerships and private sector investment.
Flooded houses and streets in Kihoto village after Lake Naivasha overflowed in Naivasha, Kenya, September 4, 2025. /VCG
Africa claims its ‘rightful place’
Highlighting the dwindling international climate action commitments, Kenyan President William Ruto stressed the urgent need “to secure Africa’s rightful place in the global economy,” urging African countries to remain steadfast in building a modern, green, and inclusive industrial base.
“Today, climate action risks being sidelined as national security and short-term interests. Development assistance is shrinking,” Ruto said. “It has never been more urgent for Africa to stand together and demonstrate that collaboration delivers prosperity and peace for all of us.”
The Kenyan president emphasized that realizing Africa’s vision of climate-positive growth requires dual actions. Africa must exercise its agency decisively, urgently and coherently, while the international system must dismantle the structural barriers that continue to hold Africa back.
Delegates queue to enter the plenary hall for the opening of the High-Level Leaders Summit at the ACS2 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, September 8, 2025. /VCG
A new model for growth
African leaders at the summit voiced a unified call for the reform of the global financial architecture, as well as for grant-based financial flow and investment commitments, to accelerate Africa’s resilient and green development.
African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, on his part, stressed that Africa needs “genuine cooperation for the implementation of our continent’s adaptation plans by providing financial resources, technology and expertise.”
Calling for “fair, significant and predictable” global climate finance, he said the continent’s vulnerability due to climate change, debt burden and the structural inequalities of the international financial architecture must be redressed through climate justice.
As Africa’s flagship climate gathering, the summit, co-hosted by Ethiopia and the AU, brought together African heads of state and government, ministers, diplomats, experts and heads of international partners to chart the continent’s common climate future.
CGTN
