African leaders have opened a major climate summit in Ethiopia, declaring their ambition to turn the continent into a global model for sustainable growth through green investments, even as frustration mounts over broken climate finance promises and waning international solidarity.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Monday told delegates at COP30 that Africa’s future lies in pioneering a development model rooted in renewable energy, carbon capture, critical minerals, and sustainable food production.
“We are not here to negotiate our survival. We are here to design the world’s next climate economy,” Abiy said, urging leaders to “make the right choices now” so that Africa could become the first continent to industrialise without destroying its ecosystems.
Abiy also proposed a continent-wide climate innovation initiative, funded by African governments, to bring together universities, research institutions, startups, and rural communities to deliver 1,000 solutions by 2030.
Struggles over finance and justice
Despite their ambitions, African governments face steep challenges in financing climate action.
Leaders at COP30 lamented that the continent still receives just 1 percent of global climate finance each year, far short of what is needed to adapt to worsening floods, droughts, and landslides.
“Climate finance must be fair, significant and predictable,” said Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, chair of the African Union Commission.
He stressed that debt burdens and structural inequalities in the global financial system continue to undermine the continent’s resilience.
Leaving Africa exposed
Kenyan President William Ruto warned that the unravelling of global cooperation, exemplified by Washington’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and clean energy partnerships, risks leaving Africa exposed.
“Too often, commitments are broken and international solidarity is dismissed as weakness precisely when the scale of the climate crisis demands enhanced cooperation, not less,” Ruto said.
African leaders pledged to keep pressing for more funds and stronger commitments at upcoming global climate talks in Brazil, while positioning their continent as both a frontline victim of climate change and a test bed for solutions.
