For Africa, climate action isn’t just about emissions — it is a development imperative. The continent faces a myriad of challenges: a population boom, rising energy demands, persistent poverty and fragile infrastructure.
International funding has historically come at a huge cost to Africa, undermining sovereignty and saddling its countries with cycles of debt. Climate action remains heavily dependent on external financing.
Africa receives just 2% to 4% of global climate finance with 90% coming from outside sources. The moral imperative lies with wealthier countries to contribute funds to development and climate justice on the continent, given their use of Africa’s natural resources and their disproportionate contribution to the climate crisis.
Yet, the recent US decision to cut $555 million in funding to the African Development Bank (specifically the African Development Fund or ADF), as well as the earlier USAid cuts, have shifted the geopolitical landscape and the ability of Africa to respond to the climate crisis.
The ADF supports programmes and projects that promote economic and social development in least developed African countries as well as providing technical assistance for studies and capacity-building activities.
These funding shifts expose deeper vulnerabilities in Africa’s dependence on foreign aid and the urgent need to find alternative pathways to ensure African sovereignty in our determination of economic and climate resilience. A space has opened up for South Africa to step up as a collaborative leader in pan-African climate solidarity.
The new US government under Donald Trump has made it explicit that it will hinder global cooperation towards addressing climate change. It officially withdrew from the Paris Agreement and the International Partners Group, which has provided funding for just energy transitions in South Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam.
For Africa, climate action isn’t just about emissions — it is a development imperative. The continent faces a myriad of challenges: a population boom, rising energy demands, persistent poverty and fragile infrastructure. An energy transition on the continent is crucial to provide energy access to 600 million people in Africa who lack access to electricity.
Simultaneously, Africa continues to be exploited for natural resources, with the latest pressure felt for minerals needed for the world’s digital technology.
This drop in funding for the continent worsens an already severe shortfall. The continent needs about $277 billion a year just to meet its climate goals, according to the Climate Policy Initiative and other climate trackers. Current flows reached $52 billion — a fivefold shortfall.
Without adequate climate finance, adaptation projects are not seen as a priority and are delayed or abandoned. While other countries reaffirmed their commitments, the loss of US support created uncertainty — especially in institutions like the Green Climate Fund.
For Africa, this means even fewer resources and more competition for already limited funds. The third report by the Independent High-Level Expert Group on climate finance in November 2024, indicated that a shortfall in investment in climate action before 2030 puts disproportionate pressure on the future, paving a steeper and potentially more costly path to climate stability.
This moment demands a decisive leadership step-up from within the continent. To do this, Africa’s leaders must tackle a web of interconnected issues.
Most African governments are grappling with unsustainable debt levels, which limits the fiscal space and hinders development priorities and climate action. According to research from the AfDB and the UN Economic Commission for Africa, as much as 70% of the increase in African debt in 2023 was linked to currency depreciation. Domestic resources need to be mobilised to reduce dependence on borrowing in foreign currency.
Strengthening the institutional and financial capacity of African public development banks could enhance their lending ability to mobilise local concessional finance for developmental and climate-related projects and crowd in private sector investment. This is particularly important for adaptation projects, which have struggled to attract funding.
African leaders need to encourage local investment that redistributes wealth locally. They need to more closely monitor and control international extractive projects that exploit the continent’s resources for the profits of a few local elites and foreign-led multi-nationals. We need a political environment that enables solid economic policies that are centred around social benefits, rather than just creating bankable climate investments.
Local and foreign investment in fossil fuels should be heavily taxed and redistributed towards public benefits programmes. There is no longer an economic basis to justify continued investments in fossil fuels.
Above all, the continent must unify around a strategic climate and development agenda that centres local solutions and resilience.
The consequences of climate inaction are already playing out across the continent. As one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change, despite contributing only 4% of global emissions, Africa cannot afford to wait for political tides in the Global North to shift.
It is an opportunity — a wake-up call to build greater autonomy, resilience and leadership. If Africa’s leaders act boldly and collectively, the continent can mobilise local climate finance to enable sovereignty over climate action, while holding wealthier countries accountable for climate reparations. South Africa, which produces the bulk of the continent’s emissions, can assume greater responsibility for the continent’s development.
South Africa must take a collaborative leadership role that cultivates pan-African solidarity. As the first African nation to preside over the G20, South Africa has an opportunity to advocate for equitable climate finance and debt relief, ensuring that the continent’s needs are prioritised in global discussions.
Taking this collaborative approach strengthens Africa’s collective voice on the global stage and ensures that climate action is inclusive, just and reflective of the continent’s diverse needs.
Brighton Phiri is a climate activist working with Nu Climate Vision. Kholwani Simelane is the deputy secretary of the Climate Justice Coalition. Tara Nair van Ryneveld is the climate policy coordinator at Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute.