Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 10 September 2025 — At the just-concluded Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2), the continent welcomed a new chapter: one where Africa’s solutions, capital, and climate ambition lay the groundwork for reshaping global climate action.

Hosted by the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC) under the theme: “Accelerating Global Climate Solutions: Financing for Africa's Resilient and Green Development,” the three-day summit, which followed a week-long climate week, drew over 25,000 participants, from Heads of State and policymakers to innovators, youth and civil society, and the message was unmistakable: Africa is no longer on the sidelines of the climate conversation. It is leading it.

At the opening, H.E. Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, called for a bold shift in Africa’s climate ambition and global role:

“Africa did not cause this crisis, yet Africa can lead in solving it. We are not here to negotiate our survival; we are here to design the world’s next climate economy. We can be the first region to industrialize without destroying our ecosystems, and as COP30 approaches, Africa must stand not as a bloc of negotiators but as a continent of solutions. We call for real investment, not charity.”

Building on the momentum of the inaugural Africa Climate Summit (ACS1) held in Nairobi in 2023, H.E. William Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, echoed the urgency for united climate action and a development-first approach:

“Africa’s voice is now heard, our solutions are being deployed, and our path is clear: climate-positive growth. Achieving this requires addressing our unique vulnerabilities, securing fair and predictable climate finance, and implementing solutions at scale. To secure our place in the global economy, we must industrialize — green, inclusive, and on our terms. That means claiming our agency and removing the structural barriers that hold us back. Let Addis Ababa be remembered as the moment we turned commitments into collective action.”

As co-convener of the summit, the African Union (AU) played a central role in advocating for Africa’s unified climate agenda and driving momentum for stronger global reform. H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, emphasized:

“Climate finance must be fair, significant, and predictable. This summit is our moment to reaffirm Africa’s clear stance: global obligations are shared, yet responsibilities remain differentiated. The vulnerability of our member states, driven by climate impacts, debt burdens, and structural inequalities, demands climate justice and genuine cooperation. Only through sustained finance, technology, and expertise can our adaptation plans be fully realized.”

Throughout the week, the Africa Climate Summit hosted 53+ mandated events, 223+ official side events, exhibitions and 19 country and partner pavilions showcasing Africa’s climate leadership from early warning systems and climate-smart agriculture to carbon markers and youth-led green industrialization.

A dedicated United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) pavilion welcomed over 300 participants per day, sharing concrete examples of climate resilience, spotlighting flagship initiatives advancing Africa’s green transition and unlocking new partnership opportunities. Additionally, UNDP co-hosted and convened several high-level events, including dialogues on Carbon Markets and the SDGs, the Operationalization of Article 6, and advancing NDC 3.0 through the Climate Promise. These events highlighted Africa’s role in shaping global carbon markets, underscored the urgency of unlocking Article 6 to deliver finance at scale, and reaffirmed UNDP’s long-term commitment to supporting over 120 countries in raising and delivering on their climate ambitions.

A key highlight was the high-level launch of the Community Recovery and Resilience Facility by the AU and UNDP, a facility designed to help communities break the cycle of repeated climate shocks, support national recovery planning, disaster preparedness, rapid livelihood support, and pilot scalable community-based interventions. 

The launch, co-moderated by Dr Zeynu Ummer, Director of the UNDP Resilience Hub for Africa, featured Ahunna Eziakonwa, UN Assistant Secretary-General, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Africa, who emphasized the importance of building community resilience before disaster strikes:

“The facility provides a structured and inclusive platform for communities and countries to better navigate the effects of compounding shocks, while also building long-term resilience, ensuring each recovery strengthens resilience for the next generation and the next challenge.”

UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Africa Director, Ahunna Eziakonwa, also actively participated in ministerial and high-level dialogues. She underscored the importance of translating Africa’s solutions into actionable pathways towards COP30 in Belém, noting:

“The Addis Ababa Summit showed that when Africa comes together with clarity, ambition, and concrete solutions, the world listens. UNDP’s role is to ensure these solutions are scaled and carried into the global negotiations at COP30.”

The Addis Ababa Declaration and Next Steps

The summit concluded with the adoption of the Addis Ababa Declaration on Climate Change and Call to Action, a continent-wide agenda that puts adaptation first, demands grant-based finance at scale, and calls for urgent reform of the global financial architecture to deliver for Africa. Importantly, the Declaration also emphasized the need to carry Africa’s unified outcomes from Addis Ababa directly into the COP30 negotiations in Belém, ensuring that Africa’s priorities on adaptation finance, just energy transitions, and operationalizing carbon markets remain at the centre of global climate discussions.

Leaders endorsed the Baku–Belém Roadmap as a pathway to unlock $1.3 trillion annually by 2035. They called for delivery that prioritizes adaptation and loss and damage, avoids debt-creating instruments, and reflects Africa’s actual needs, including over $3 trillion by 2030 to meet its climate goals. They also urged a New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance and committed to aligning funding flows with national development pathways.

The declaration also reaffirmed the continent’s ambition to scale renewable capacity to 300 GW by 2030, while addressing the urgent reality that 600 million Africans lack electricity and 900 million lack clean cooking. It also called for raising Africa’s share of global renewable energy finance from just 2% today to at least 20% by 2030.

This ambition underscores a key intention for Africa: despite contributing least to the crisis, the continent is ready to lead on solutions, provided the global system delivers climate finance that is just, accessible and delivered at scale.

Key priorities moving forward

• Mobilize grant-based, predictable adaptation finance, including $84 billion annually to close Africa’s adaptation gap.
• Reform the global financial system by overhauling Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), reducing borrowing costs, and increasing African voice and equity in decision-making.
• Operationalize African-led finance initiatives to unlock $50B annually and foster African-led innovation and technology transfer.
• Scale nature-based solutions and climate-smart agriculture while securing land rights, food systems, and water access in climate-vulnerable communities.
• Centre inclusive governance by elevating women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, and vulnerable groups in climate leadership.
• Embed climate into peacebuilding frameworks and recognize mobility as a resilience strategy for climate-affected populations.
• Build resilient health systems aligned with the Belém Health Action Plan, capable of responding to climate-linked health shocks such as water stress, heat, and disease.
• Ensure Africa’s unified voice ahead of COP30 in Belém through coordinated action and strengthened investment pipelines.
• Carry forward the ACS2 outcomes on Carbon Markets, Article 6 activation, and NDC 3.0 into COP30 to strengthen Africa’s position in shaping global frameworks and mobilizing finance.

For more information and media inquiries:

• Charles Nyandiga, Regional Climate Team Leader, UNDP Regional Service Centre for Africa | charles.nyandiga@undp.org
• Excellent Hachileka, Climate Change Specialist, UNDP Regional Service Centre for Africa | excellent.hachileka@undp.org
• Martha Mogus, Communications Specialist, UNDP Ethiopia | martha.mogus@undp.org
• Ayda Labassi, Digital Communications Specialist, UNDP Regional Service Centre for Africa | ayda.labassi@undp.org
• Ugochukwu Kingsley Ahuchaogu, Regional Communications and External Engagement Specialist, UNDP Regional Service Centre for Africa | ugochukwu.kingsley@undp.org

Notes for the Editors:

About the Second Africa Climate Summit

ACS-2 is a platform for unifying Africa’s voice and leadership in global climate action, advancing African-led climate solutions and catalyzing bold financial and political commitments. At ACS-2, climate leaders champion new global financing systems and accelerate climate adaptation, mitigation, and green growth. The summit also seeks to empower communities, especially youth and indigenous groups, while fostering fair partnerships and multilateral cooperation. ACS-2 aims to position Africa not only as a frontline region of climate impacts, but as a powerhouse of global climate solutions.

Learn more at www.africaclimatesummit2.et

About the African Union Commission

The African Union Commission (AUC) is the AU’s secretariat and undertakes the day-to-day activities of the Union. It is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Some of its functions include representing the AU and defending its interests under the guidance of and as mandated by the Assembly and the Executive Council and acting as the custodian of the AU Constitutive Act and all other OAU/AU legal instruments.

Learn more at www.au.int/en/commission

About the United Nations Development Programme

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end poverty, inequality, and climate change. With a broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, UNDP helps nations build integrated and sustainable solutions for people and the planet.

Learn more at: www.undp.org/africa