Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, had dressed itself up in optimism as it prepared to host the continent’s largest climate gathering of the year. Attendees of the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2), guided by stewards in green jackets, bypassed the city’s traffic in sleek electric coaches.
On the eve of the summit, Ethiopia’s minister of development, Fitsum Assefa, issued a pointed declaration of intent: “We are not here to beg. We are here with solutions, with a vision, and with a desire to build a shared future.”
Her words set the tone for a three-day meeting that sought to showcase homegrown solutions to the climate crisis. It tried to put flesh on the bones of the inaugural summit in Nairobi in 2023 which had positioned Africa not as a victim of climate change but as a protagonist in solving it.
Did ACS2 deliver?
Only four African heads of state appeared in Addis compared to the dozen that had made it to Nairobi. Nonetheless, the attendees were eager to present a continent unified in its ambition to address the climate crisis, through renewable power and a dazzling array of local innovations. It quickly became clear, however, that Africa is still hamstrung by financing shortfalls, an over-reliance on private capital, and the uncertainties of a fraught geopolitical sphere.
All observers agreed it was important for the Addis summit to carry forward the momentum from the inaugural summit in Nairobi in 2023.
For Xolisa Ngwadla, an independent expert who led South Africa’s delegation to the 2015 climate summit that produced the Paris Agreement, the two summits played distinct but complementary roles.
“Nairobi was about repositioning Africa in the global climate negotiations, asserting a new narrative – that we are not victims but agents with solutions and priorities. Addis, on the other hand, was about grounding that narrative, ensuring Africa’s voice carries forward with substance and continuity. Together, they create a trajectory that strengthens Africa’s role on the road to COP30 in Belém.”
A new era of African agency?
The pledges emerging from the summit underscore a new era of African agency. Addis announced a total of USD 150 billion in homegrown financial commitments. This comprises a USD 50 billion annual fund for African climate solutions, and a USD 100 billion pledge from African financial institutions to finance a green industrial revolution.
Iskander Erzini Vernoit, director of Imal Initiative, a non-profit thinktank based in Morocco, told Dialogue Earth that ACS2 proved Africa “is brimming with solutions and efforts to take action”. But he warned that the fight for fair finance must remain central: “Africa is leading efforts for a fairer financial architecture… [and] calling for rich historic[ally] polluting countries to fulfil their legal obligation to provide climate finance.” If these obligations go unmet, he added, “according to the International Court of Justice, they could result in an obligation to provide reparation and compensation”.
The Addis Ababa Declaration on Climate Change, adopted on the final day of the summit, frames the climate crisis as fundamentally an issue of economic justice. It places a staggering USD 3 trillion price tag on achieving Africa’s climate goals by 2030. Central to Africa’s common position for the upcoming COP30 in Brazil is a demand for developed nations to finally honour the obligations they made to finance the continent’s energy transition and adaptation to climate change. The declaration explicitly labels climate finance from historical polluters a “legal obligation and not charity”.
Iskander said the outcome “provides a strong basis for approaching COP30 in a way that advances climate action and climate justice for Africa”, adding that it should help secure support for African countries’ climate pledges and financing for adaptation.
The declaration calls for urgent reforms to deliver scaled-up, grant-based finance to close the adaptation gap. It states that Africa needs USD 84 billion per year for adaptation, against actual flows of just USD 14 billion in 2021-2022. The document condemns the current system where over half of adaptation finance arrives as debt, exacerbating the continent’s fiscal crisis instead of solving the climate one.
The declaration reframes Africa’s role from victim to essential solutions hub, demanding a just transition that respects its right to development. It positions the continent’s vast renewable energy and critical mineral resources as the foundation for a new low-carbon economic future, but that this can only happen if the world’s financial architecture is radically reformed to be fair, accessible and free of crippling debt. The declaration also reiterates the target of raising Africa’s share of global renewable energy financing to at least 20% by 2030, compared to just 2% today.
Could the declaration have been stronger still?
In the view of Ngwadla, “the declaration could have been more succinct and pointed”. He questioned whether African countries pushed hard enough in their deliberations, noting that South Africa stood almost alone in objecting to “weak” phrasing.
There were too few leaders in Addis to generate stronger debate, he said. “The default position for Africans is to let things go, not to embarrass each other. But if there was broader high-level representation, I think that would have [led to] more countries expressing themselves on the issues.”
For Ngwadla, this blend of assertiveness and caution defines where Africa now stands: no longer a passive victim of the climate crisis, but also still struggling to sharpen its voice into the kind of focused, uncompromising message that will carry weight at COP30.
What part did the international community beyond Africa play?
The 2023 Nairobi summit had been notable for the role played by US consultancy firm McKinsey and for the attendance of then US climate envoy, John Kerry, as well as president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
This year’s summit told a different story about the shifting dynamics of global climate politics. The US was entirely absent from proceedings. Individual EU member states, particularly Germany, Italy and Denmark, maintained only a scattered presence, largely confined to pavilion activities. The European Commission was represented by Teresa Ribera, its executive vice-president for a clean, just and competitive transition.
Denmark nevertheless announced USD 79 million to support agricultural transformation. Italy reaffirmed its USD 4.2 billion pledge to the Italian Climate Fund, dedicating about 70% of this to Africa and signing a memorandum of understanding with Ethiopia to channel some of the benefits locally.
China loomed large without making any new pledges. The country is the leading exporter of electric vehicles to the continent such as those that gleamed in the summit’s exhibition tent. It is also the leading supplier of solar technology, including the panels that drive water pumps to irrigate Africa’s farms year round.
Dialogue Earth attended two China-focused side events. Both featured senior representatives from the Chinese Embassy to Ethiopia and the Chinese Mission to the African Union. We also visited a local assembly facility on the outskirts of Addis operated by Solar Run, a leading Chinese off-grid solar company, together with its local distributor Baraka Solar Manufacturing. Mohamed Abdi, Baraka’s general manager, claimed the company commands roughly 40% of Ethiopia’s solar-panel market and 80% of Somalia’s. He added that Chinese experts had provided six months of training to 20 local staff in Ethiopia.
Africa’s solar imports have been surging. In the 12 months to June 2025, the continent imported 15 gigawatts (GW) of solar panels – a 60% jump from the previous year, with the vast majority coming from China. Much of the growth happened outside South Africa, which has been considering tariffs on imported solar, wind and battery components in a bid to spur domestic manufacturing. As Chinese solar products flood African markets, some worry the continent is being locked into its traditional role as a consumer rather than a producer.
Brian Kagoro, managing director of the Open Society Foundations, said: “The wonderful relationship and cooperation we have with China and with our colleagues in Europe is endangered by histories of role assignment where Africa is constantly a junior partner, where the benefits to the other partner are always disproportionate.”
He added: “Economies should be about jobs, jobs, jobs – and Africa cannot remain just a junior partner.”
The COPification of the summit?
For all the optimism, not everyone left Addis satisfied. Mwanahamisi Singano, senior global policy lead at advocacy group, the Women’s Environment & Development Organization, was blunt in her assessment:
“I am leaving this summit deeply disappointed. It’s become a place where people with money come and push their agenda.”
Her critique reflected a broader unease that the summit is turning into what she called “a small COP”.
Instead of driving a clear African climate agenda, Singano argued, the process risks being captured by commercial and political interests.
“This is just a market for the capital and private sector,” she said. “Now the meeting is becoming the end in itself.”
Singano’s frustration with the summit was shared by Alaka Lugonzo, senior civil society advisor for transition minerals at Global Witness, who cautioned that it had “failed to connect the dots on the intersections between food sovereignty, energy security, road infrastructure, trade, industrialisation, job creation and technology transfer”.
Both critiques converged on the same warning: that Africa’s climate agenda risks being pulled apart by external interests instead of being anchored in a coherent, homegrown vision.
“Time for talking shop is over,” said Lugonzo. “Nobody is coming to save Africa.”
The Addis Ababa declaration ended with a nod to the future: “In recognition of the need for deeper strategic planning, more impactful implementation, and stronger regional coordination, we propose that the Africa Climate Summit be convened every three years rather than biennially, and be hosted on a rotational basis within the five African Union regions.”
An African Union official, speaking on condition of anonymity, warned the summit risks becoming “an East African affair” unless future hosts are drawn from West, North or Southern Africa.
As the Addis summit closed, the spotlight shifted to Brazil. For Africa, the march to Belém for COP30 in November will test whether the continent’s unity can withstand the grind of global climate negotiations. The Addis declaration offers a baseline, but its success will depend on whether the world’s wealthiest nations finally deliver the resources Africa insists are a legal obligation and not charity.
