By Emmanuel Nduka Obisue
African leaders have opened a major climate summit in Ethiopia, vowing to transform the continent into a model for green growth while denouncing broken promises on climate finance and the erosion of global solidarity.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told delegates at COP30 on Monday that Africa must seize the moment to pioneer a development path rooted in renewable energy, carbon capture, critical minerals, and sustainable food systems.
“We are not here to negotiate our survival. We are here to design the world’s next climate economy,” Abiy declared, urging leaders to “make the right choices now” so Africa could become the first continent to industrialise without wrecking its ecosystems.
He unveiled a plan for a continent-wide climate innovation initiative, funded by African governments, to unite universities, research hubs, startups, and rural communities in delivering 1,000 solutions by 2030.
Finance gaps and global injustice
Despite such ambitions, leaders lamented that Africa receives barely 1 percent of global climate finance annually, far short of the funds required to shield communities from worsening floods, droughts, and landslides.
“Climate finance must be fair, significant and predictable,” stressed Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, chair of the African Union Commission, warning that debt burdens and systemic inequalities undermine the continent’s resilience.
US pullback deepens fears
Kenyan President William Ruto sounded the alarm over faltering international cooperation, citing Washington’s retreat from the Paris Agreement and clean energy partnerships as a grave threat.
“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 warned.
African leaders pledged to intensify pressure for stronger commitments at upcoming global climate talks in Brazil, framing their continent as both a frontline victim of climate breakdown and a test bed for solutions.
TRT World.
