Africa needs a COP30 outcome that matches ambition with delivery – Civil society

Africa needs a COP30 outcome that matches ambition with delivery, the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) has said.

According to the Kenya-based group, ambition in the context of Africa means funding, and not any other superficial rhetoric.

“Anything less would be a failure of leadership and a betrayal of the world’s most climate-vulnerable region,” PACJA declared in a position statement of African civil society ahead of the conclusion of COP30.

The activists called for a final COP30 package that includes:

1. A strong Article 9 decision rooted in the Belém Work Programme
2. Scaled, predictable adaptation and loss & damage finance.
3. A robust Response Measures workplan that protects African economies.
4. A fair, equitable transition roadmap that supports energy access and industrialisation.
5. Full operationalisation of Africa’s Special Needs and Circumstances.

The African Non-State Actors on climate justice, under the umbrella PACJA, listed core issues, positions and demands to include: Africa’s Special Needs and Circumstances; Finance: Delivering Article 9 with Precision, Predictability, and Justice; Response Measures: Protect the Mandate, Defend Africa’s Economies; Fossil Fuels, Just Transition, and Energy Access; Adaptation, Loss & Damage, and Protection of Lives and Livelihoods; and Gender.

On Africa’s Special Needs and Circumstances, the climate activists demanded:

1. Explicit recognition of Africa’s special needs and circumstances across all final decisions.
2. Flexibility for African countries in applying global rules and reporting requirements
3. Priority access to finance, technology and capacity-building.
4. Guarantees that Africa will not be penalised economically for a crisis it did not create

On Finance: Delivering Article 9 with Precision, Predictability, and Justice, they called on Parties to:

1. Make Article 9.1 obligations real
2. Developed countries must provide predictable, public finance, primarily grants and concessional lending
3. Adopt a binding workplan with annual reporting and accountability.
4. Establish four workstreams tailored to African needs
5. Support Pathways: clear targets for public finance and adaptation shares.
6. Mobilised Finance (Art. 9.3): protect the separation between obligatory public finance and non-obligatory private mobilisation.

On Fossil Fuels, Just Transition, and Energy Access, they demanded:

1. A fair sequenced or differentiated, and well-financed phaseout roadmap aligned with Africa’s development needs.
2. Recognition of Africa’s right to transitional energy solutions, including time-bound, Paris-aligned natural gas use.
3. A stronger Just Transition Work Programme supporting skills, jobs, industrial policy, and diversification.
4. Guaranteed linkages between JT finance and priorities such as critical minerals, manufacturing, and green industrialisation.
5. Formal recognition of energy access as a climate goal, unlocking resources to serve households, rural economies and social services.

On Adaptation, Loss & Damage, and Protection of Lives and Livelihoods, they demanded:

1. More than triple adaptation finance by 2030, with a clear public-finance pathway
2. A fully capitalised Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage with new, additional, predictable finance, and as a guarantee mobilised from public sources.
3. Fast-track support for resilient agriculture, water and health systems, coastal protection, and community adaptation complimented with early warning systems.

On Gender, they demanded:

1. Adequate, predictable, accessible gender finance, including direct access for African women-led and feminist groups
2. Mandatory gender integration across mitigation, adaptation, finance, L&D, and technology, with clear indicators.
3. Accountability and monitoring, including reporting on gender commitments and resource allocation.
4. Meaningful participation, ensuring African women, especially young, frontline, and marginalised groups hold decision-making power, not token roles.