--- description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. title: Africa Positions Itself as Climate Powerhouse Ahead of COP30 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e0ce6261658bf4a/6998c9be1500fb064baa6980/acs2-close.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 12, 2025 # African Leaders Position the Continent as a Climate Powerhouse Ahead of COP30 by [Simmone Shah](/author/simmone-shah/) ## Simmone Shah Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Reporter  Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh (L), Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (C) and Kenyan President William Ruto (R) walk together in conversation ahead of the opening of the High-Level Leaders Summit at the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, on Sept. 8, 2025. Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh (L), Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (C) and Kenyan President William Ruto (R) walk together in conversation ahead of the opening of the High-Level Leaders Summit at the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, on Sept. 8, 2025.Luis Tato—Getty Images Leaders from Africa and beyond gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia this week for the Second Africa Climate Summit, where they aimed to set the continent’s climate priorities ahead of COP30 and position focus on moving towards self-sustainable climate solutions for a region that is heavily burdened by climate impacts—despite contributing the least to global greenhouse gas emissions. The three-day summit saw major financial commitments and new partnerships, both within the host country and across the continent, culminating with a flagship report on continental climate initiatives. The summit closed with the signing of the Addis Ababa Declaration, with leaders from across the continent affirming their commitment to transforming Africa into a powerhouse for climate solutions. The declaration called for the strengthening of many of the continent’s major climate initiatives, including the African Union Great Green Wall Initiative, which aims to combat deforestation in the Sahel, and the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative, a country-led effort to restore 100 million hectares (nearly 250 million acres) of land in Africa by 2030. The summit also saw multi-billion dollar commitments to climate finance solutions. Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced the establishment of the Africa Climate Innovation Compact (ACIC) and the African Climate Facility (ACF), which together committed to mobilizing $50 billion to finance climate solutions across the continent. The government of Denmark also announced a $79 million commitment for supporting agricultural transformation. The week began with the launch of a landmark cooperative framework in support of the Africa Green Industrialization Initiative (AGII), first announced at COP28\. African Development Bank, Africa Finance Corporation, and KCB Group were among the financial institutions to pledge funds, mobilizing over $100 billion to support green industrial opportunities in Africa—including generating 300 GW of renewable energy by 2030, as outlined by the Addis Ababa Declaration, signed on Wednesday. The summit’s host country made new progress domestically as well. Seyoum Mekonen, state minister of planning and development for Ethiopia and the Ministry of Environment, and Energy Security Minister of the Italian Republic Claudio Barbaro signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on day 2 of the summit that will support a number of initiatives, including Ethiopia’s National Adaptation Plan. Ethiopia also used the summit as an opportunity to announce the country’s bid to host COP32 in 2027, positioning Ethiopia as a climate leader. “We ask our world partners not to fund us because we are impacted, but to invest with us, because we are visionary,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said during a keynote address on opening day. “Africa did not cause this crisis, yet Africa can lead in solving it.” Conversations throughout the summit focused on the same idea: that Africa could chart its own path in finding scalable, financially-viable solutions to the climate crisis that is already at its doorstep. Panelists addressed a number of urgent issues, from reexamining the role and efficacy of red-tape laden frameworks for global climate financing to ensuring that investments reach those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. On Tuesday, the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) and Pro(to)topia, a green consulting group, marked the launch of the Just Resilience Framework, which will provide guidance and funding for local climate initiatives, during a panel moderated by TIME’s chief climate officer Shyla Raghav. The framework, coupled with the Climate Justice Impact Fund for Africa (CJIFA) will support projects that can be replicated across the continent. Youth leaders also began the summit by delivering the Africa Youth Climate Assembly’s 2025 Addis Ababa Declaration, which put forward a number of proposals focused on ensuring that youth on the local level are included in climate action—and funded accordingly. “Many times, even our leaders speak about solutions as though \[they are created\] really high up, but really solutions are happening at the ground level, at the local community,” Kenyan climate activist and [TIME100 Impact Award honoree ](https://time.com/6313015/elizabeth-wathuti-time100-impact-awards/ "undefined")Elizabeth Wathuti told TIME. “For me, that is action, and I also want the leaders to begin to not look too far for solutions, and get back down to the communities and support communities to strengthen their resilience.” Ahead of November’s COP30 in Bélem, Brazil, the summit provided an opportunity for leaders to present a united front for global negotiations, Ethiopia’s President Taye Atske Selassie said during the summit’s closing remarks. “We must carry forward a united African voice, a voice that is bold in ambition and rooted in justice, a voice that demands the world that Africa is not a problem to be solved. Africa is the solution to be supported.” _Coverage of the Second Africa Climate Summit is presented by the Pan Africa Climate Justice_ _Alliance_ _._ African Leaders Position the Continent as a Climate Powerhouse Ahead of COP30 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/africa-climate-summit-2/7314217/africa-climate-powerhouse-cop30/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/africa-climate-summit-2/7314217/africa-climate-powerhouse-cop30/"},"headline":"Africa Positions Itself as Climate Powerhouse Ahead of COP30","datePublished":"2025-09-12T15:57:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:54:20.847Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/africa-climate-summit-2/7314217/africa-climate-powerhouse-cop30/","keywords":["finance","climate change","sponsorshipblock"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e0ce6261658bf4a/6998c9be1500fb064baa6980/acs2-close.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Simmone Shah","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/simmone-shah/"}],"creator":"Simmone Shah","articleSection":"Climate","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e0ce6261658bf4a/6998c9be1500fb064baa6980/acs2-close.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/climate/","name":"Climate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/finance/","name":"finance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/africa-climate-summit-2/7314217/africa-climate-powerhouse-cop30/","name":"Africa Positions Itself as Climate Powerhouse Ahead of COP30"}}]}] ```