At the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) first Strategic Meeting that held in Zanzibar from April 28 to 30, 2025, under the chairmanship of the United Republic of Tanzania, AGN Chair, Richard Muyungi, called for a “Just Transition” that addresses Africa’s energy poverty.
Dr. Muyungi, who emphasised the “Africa First” agenda, said Africa cannot talk about just transition while over 600 million people in Africa are without access to energy and 900 without clean cooking solutions.
Dr. Muyungi, said, “It is for this reason that the inclusion of the Clean Cooking agenda, which is being championed by Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania in the just transition work programme, is key.”
“I am delighted to note that the African Union, at its last assembly, adopted both the AU declaration on Clean Cooking and the Dar-es-Salaam Declaration on Mission 300 Energy Summit that focuses on providing energy access to at least 300 million people in Africa by 2030. At this meeting we have resolved to ensure these two important decisions by the AU Assembly are embedded in the Just transition and mitigation work programmes towards Belem and beyond,” added the AGN Chair.
In the context of climate change, a “just transition” refers to a strategy that ensures a fair and equitable transition to a low-carbon economy, minimising negative impacts on workers and communities while maximising social and economic opportunities. It aims to balance climate action with social justice, creating decent work, reducing inequalities, and ensuring no one is left behind.
At its fourth session, the Conference of Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA), decided to establish a work programme on “Just Transition” pathways to advancing the goals of the Paris Agreement.
The decision emphasised that just transition pathways must be based on nationally defined development priorities and include social protection so as to mitigate potential impacts associated with the transition.
Other priorities discussed and agreed at the AGN meeting included:
- Finalising Africa’s approach towards the new round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs 3.0), ensuring they are ambitious, equitable, and supported by adequate means of implementation;
- Securing clarity and operationalisation of the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance, building upon AU and CAHOSCC relevant guiding decisions and the “Baku to Belém Roadmap to $1.3 trillion by 2035”;
- Ensuring decisive progress on adaptation, including the adoption of robust indicators under the Global Goal on Adaptation, and tangible progress on National Adaptation Plans;
- Defending Africa’s equity-centred positions in the evolving global climate governance, particularly in loss and damage, technology transfer, just transition work programmes, and transparency frameworks;
- Reaffirming the critical importance of youth and gender inclusion in advancing an equitable, inclusive, and sustainable climate future for the African continent, recognising that youth and women are not only disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change but are also powerful agents of change and innovation in driving transformative climate action; and
- Reaffirming that Africa’s natural wealth presents a transformative opportunity to drive global climate change mitigation while catalysing inclusive, sustainable economic growth across the continent, with particular attention to how Africa’s endowment of 60% of the world’s highest-quality solar potential, significant wind, vast hydropower capacity, could enable Africa to leapfrog into a low-carbon future while contributing meaningfully to global emissions reductions;
Meanwhile, the AGN Chair reaffirmed the group’s crucial role in technically advising the African Union’s key institutions notably, the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) and Committee of African
Heads of State on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), ensuring that Africa’s priorities are consistently, coherently, and effectively articulated within the UNFCCC process and beyond.
“Our Group remains the only technical backbone that sustains Africa’s political decisions on climate change,” said Dr. Muyungi. “It is for this reason that this meeting is designed, among other objectives, to address decisions emanating from the February 2025 CAHOSCC meeting in Addis Ababa, and to provide clear technical advice that will guide the African continent throughout this year towards COP30 and beyond.”
Generally, the meeting reaffirmed Africa’s unwavering commitment to a unified, science-driven, and justice- centred approach to climate negotiations, emphasising the centrality of adaptation, climate finance, clean energy access, just transition, and institutional strengthening anchored in mandates from the African Union, AMCEN, and CAHOSCC as essential pillars of Africa’s climate agenda.
Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, Executive Director of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), said: “At the recent 5th Board meeting, the Board established the Barbados Implementation Modalities, which marks the initial operationalisation of the Fund. USD 250 million has been set aside. Under the guidance of the co-chairs, the secretariat is designing the initial modalities with the aim to launch a call for proposals in the coming months. In the coming days, I look forward to hearing from you the experiences, challenges and lessons learned from the region and I will be closely engaging with you in this regard.”
Dr. Mithika Mwenda, Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) Executive Director: “…Africa’s adaptation and resilience building must remain at the heart of our conversations, both in Africa and globally. Our countries and communities are on the frontlines of climate impacts – yet we have contributed the least to the crisis. Belem must deliver stronger commitments that prioritise the urgent needs of vulnerable communities, protecting livelihoods, ecosystems, and economies.
“Central to this is adaptation finance. It is not enough to promise – finance must flow, and it must be accessible, predictable, adequate and scaled up dramatically. We must demand concrete delivery on the new collective quantified goal on finance. Africa must lead the call for a goal that is not only ambitious but based on real needs, reflecting the scale of the adaptation and mitigation challenges we face.”
Dr. Million Belay, General Coordinator, Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA): “A number of African countries are gradually adopting Agroecology and some including Tanzania and Kenya have developed and launched national Agroecology strategies.
“AFSA’s request to the African Group of Negotiators is to make Agroecology central in agriculture, adaptation and finance negotiations as a very viable resilient mechanism to climate change adaptation. We also appreciate that the AGN is inviting civil society including PACJA and AFSA to these spaces. Civil society organisations can support government interventions in so many ways and we hope that we continue to work together for a unified Africa.”