Africa Demands Real Climate Support, Not Just Promises – UN Climate Official
The United Nations is calling on the world to stop making empty promises and start delivering real money to help African communities deal with the harsh effects of climate change.
At the just-ended African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), Cecilia Kinuthia-Njenga, speaking on behalf of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, said climate finance must go beyond boardroom pledges, it must reach the farmers, families, and frontline workers already facing the heat.
“Africa is losing as much as 9% of its income every year due to floods, droughts, and climate shocks,” she said. “This is not just about politics, it’s about dignity, survival, and fairness.”
Across the continent, communities are crying out for solar power, flood-resistant roads, and green jobs. But many African countries are forced to spend more on repaying debts than they do on protecting their people from climate risks.
To turn things around, a new global finance goal has been agreed: by 2030, $300 billion a year should be made available to developing countries like those in Africa. This figure is expected to rise to $1.3 trillion by 2035. But the UN says this target should be seen as a minimum, not a limit, and the money must be easy to access and tailored to African needs.
The call comes as countries like Zambia have already started using innovative finance tools to fund solar energy, showing that with the right support, African nations can lead in climate solutions.
“We need to move from broken promises to real delivery,” Kinuthia-Njenga said. “African countries already have the ideas and the drive, they just need fair support to build a more climate-resilient future.”
