Mo Ibrahim Foundation outlines Africa’s priorities ahead of COP30

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 10 November 2025:

Ahead of COP30 taking place next week in Belém, Brazil (10-21 November), the Mo Ibrahim Foundation has released a new research brief, Africa on the road to COP30: from Addis Ababa to Belém, reviewing the key outcomes from recent COP summits and setting out how negotiations in Belém can advance Africa’s priorities, as reaffirmed in the Addis Ababa Declaration adopted during the second Africa Climate Summit in September 2025.

The new brief underscores the urgent need to align Africa’s climate and development agendas. With fewer than five years remaining to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and only 6% currently on track in Africa, the continent faces a dual challenge by being among the least responsible for climate change yet the most vulnerable to its impacts, contributing just 3% of global historical greenhouse gas emissions.

As outlined in the Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, the continent’s goal is for every country to reach middle-income status through increased industrialisation. Achieving this will require a development model that expands access to energy and jobs while harnessing Africa’s green assets to shape a more sustainable global future.

The Foundation identifies four urgent priorities for COP30 to help meet this goal:

1. Ensuring a just transition and access to energy for all as access to electricity is still lacking for over 620 million people living in Africa.
2. Recognising Africa’s vulnerability to climate change and prioritising adaptation over mitigation. Although African NDCs estimate $1.6–$1.9 trillion in climate finance needs, most funding targets mitigation, underscoring the urgency of integrating adaptation into development plans and scaling up grant-based support.
3. Leveraging Africa’s vast green assets and natural resources, as the continent holds some of the world’s largest reserves of critical minerals for the green transition, while advancing local value addition, fair supply chains, and new opportunities in carbon markets and green hydrogen to power Africa’s own green industrialisation.
4. Securing access to smarter climate finance mechanisms: International cooperation and minimum taxes are key to prevent profit shifting and retain Africa’s revenue streams that could be redirected into financing climate and development needs.

The brief underscores that while Africa’s unified position has strengthened its voice in global climate negotiations, delivery remains the defining challenge. With less than half of Africans having access to electricity, and clean energy investments on the continent representing only 2% of the global total, Africa needs action.

Read the Foundation’s research brief here