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As global climate talks intensify at COP30 in Belem Brazil, African nations are presenting a unified front with a clear set of demands: climate finance must come as grants, not loans, and the world’s understanding of a “just transition” must include energy access for hundreds of millions.
The African position reframes climate finance not as aid, but a legal obligation from the developed nations most responsible for this crisis.
The continent is already grappling with a massive debt burden, which reached $1.15 trillion in 2023, according to the African Development Bank.
“We had fairly uncomfortable results in Baku,” said Richard Muyungi, chair African Group of Negotiators (AGN) referring to last year’s climate summit.
He stated developed countries must “be mindful of the fact that Africa is not ready to take additional burden in terms of financing.”
Africa’s negotiators are pressing for climate finance that is predictable, accessible, and grant-based. “Climate finance is not optional, it is the cornerstone for implementing our NDCs, NAPs, and long-term strategies,” Muyugi said.
The AGN insists that developed countries must treat climate finance as a legal and moral obligation.
The group wants the new global finance goal, the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), to align with Africa’s real needs and reduce the cost of capital by 2030.
Africa’s external debt hit $1.15 trillion in 2023, with servicing costs more than doubling since 2010. “Africa is not ready to take an additional burden in terms of financing,” said Muyungi, AGN chair, reminding donors that those most responsible for the climate crisis must shoulder a greater share of its costs.
African governments are backing the “Baku to Belém Roadmap,” which calls for scaling up climate finance to $1.3 trillion annually by 2035.
They want this flow to be mostly in grants and concessional loans, channelled through UN climate funds, not commercial debt.
Adaptation is dominating Africa’s agenda.
The continent contributes less than 4% of global emissions yet faces the highest climate costs. “Adaptation is not a choice for Africa, it is an existential priority,” Muyungi said in its joint opening statement.
Over 20 African countries have submitted National Adaptation Plans, but most remain underfunded. “We have been given resources for the preparation of these plans, but the true implementation of what we need is not given attention,” Muyungi said.
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Delegates want COP30 to adopt measurable adaptation indicators that reflect African realities, metrics linked to actual resilience outcomes like crop yield recovery, community relocation, and infrastructure protection.
Mohamed Adow of Power Shift Africa said these metrics “must demonstrate progress towards predictable finance and put adaptation on a par with mitigation.”
Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative offers a concrete example. It has mobilized millions of citizens to plant 48 billion seedlings in seven years, improving water systems and restoring degraded land. Adow said this symbolizes Africa’s capacity to lead through local solutions, not handouts.
African negotiators are also eyeing the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), launched by Brazil to protect global rainforests. The Congo Basin, which stores over 30 billion tonnes of carbon, has received only 4% of global forest finance in recent years.
“How Africa will benefit from this is still debatable but we have requested engagement to ensure we understand how this fund can help the continent,” Muyungi said.
Civil society coalitions have urged COP30 to channel resources directly into African-led forest programs like AFR100 and the Great Green Wall.
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Félix Tshisekedi told the pre-COP summit that Africa must be a full partner, not a beneficiary, in any forest financing scheme.
After years of slow progress, Africa wants a just transition framework that addresses poverty, energy access, and industrial growth.
“The agenda here is to ensure that just transition is not about e-mobility or the hydrogen economy,” said Muyungi. “It’s about ensuring that Africa gets what it needs to be part of the world. Energy accessibility is one of the key priority issues.”
More than 600 million Africans still lack electricity. The African Group is calling for financing of local energy projects, particularly clean cooking solutions for the 900 million people who rely on wood and charcoal.
Experts warn that if the transition focuses only on global decarbonization, Africa risks repeating colonial economic patterns.
“Africa must not sleepwalk into a future designed elsewhere,” said Dean Bhebhe, a just transition expert. “We need energy sovereignty, building local value chains, refining our own minerals, and powering inclusive growth.”
The African Green Industrialization Initiative, advanced at the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, seeks to localize clean-tech manufacturing.
Ethiopia’s ambassador to Brazil said the initiative “promotes beneficiation, industrialization, and job creation,” and calls for Africa’s share of renewable investment to rise from 2% to at least 20% by 2030.
Loss and damage costs in Africa are projected between $280 billion and $440 billion annually by 2030.
Yet the Loss and Damage Fund launched two years ago still holds less than $400 million. “It’s one more instance where climate justice is being shortchanged with words that continue to over-promise and under-deliver,” said Carlos Lopes, COP30’s special envoy for Africa.
African negotiators are demanding a replenishment of the fund by 2027, and a rapid-response window for disasters like floods and droughts.
Lopes said the mechanism must operate on a “tragedy-emergency basis” with direct cash transfers and budget support for affected governments.
Africa’s position is shifting its narrative. “Africans are not going to be treated as if they were just the vulnerable crowd,” Lopes said earlier. “We are here to claim the compensation required to repair the injustice.”
The Addis Ababa Declaration, adopted at ACS2, anchors this stance.
It calls for reforming global finance systems and scaling up Africa-led projects through the African Climate Facility and Climate Innovation Compact, which together aim to mobilize $50 billion a year by 2030.
The continent is demanding fair finance, equitable access to technology, and space to define its own path toward resilience and prosperity.
AGN stated, “Belem must deliver decisions that reflect the urgent need to address climate challenges and respond to the needs of our people”.
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