UN Climate Chief Simon Stiell urges African nations to seize the economic opportunities of new climate plans by investing in renewables, green transport, and climate-smart agriculture. With the right financing and adaptation strategies, he says, the continent can create millions of jobs, strengthen resilience, and position itself as a leader in the global clean energy boom — while addressing climate justice for the most vulnerable.
African countries are invited to “seize economic opportunities” through new climate plans. What concrete opportunities do you see emerging for the continent, and in which sectors?
Many African nations have diverse, dynamic, young populations, and a huge potential to boost economic growth, better health and higher living standards, with climate plans designed to drive investment. The most immediate opportunities lie in renewable energy, where Africa has some of the best solar and wind resources in the world. Expanding clean power can drive industrial development, create millions of good new jobs, and ensure access to affordable, secure, clean energy right across the continent. In addition, smart agriculture, sustainable forestry, and nature-based solutions can boost food security and also create good new jobs while protecting ecosystems and communities.
Digital innovation, green transport, and emerging sectors such as green hydrogen also offer opportunities. Strong new national climate plans can send the clear signals needed to attract investors. This was clear during the major UN events we recently held in Africa, such as the Adaptation Expo in Zambia in August and the Climate Week in Ethiopia in September, where governments and businesses showcased exciting new projects with the potential to help transform their economies, in solutions labs also attended by investors and local community leaders.
Adaptation is critical for Africa given its climate vulnerabilities. How can countries ensure their NDCs prioritize resilience while also creating jobs and protecting livelihoods?
National Climate Plans – formerly called Nationally Determined Contributions – should have climate resilience at their core. National Adaptation Plans are equally essential. Adaptation to climate change can help transform economies and communities for the better right across Africa, through projects and policies that support livelihoods, support and harness Africa’s incredible innovative talents and create employment. For example, climate-smart agriculture can help farmers cope with changing rainfall patterns while raising productivity and incomes.
Investments in resilient infrastructure, from roads to water systems, both protect communities from climate shocks and provide jobs during construction and maintenance. Nature-based adaptation, such as restoring wetlands or mangroves, safeguards ecosystems and supports fisheries, tourism, and local economies. At the NAPs Expo in Zambia, countries highlighted how national adaptation planning can be aligned with employment and development goals. By making resilience central to their NDCs, African nations can build stronger societies that are more secure, prosperous, and inclusive.
Enabling African countries to boost their climate resilience is also crucial for climate justice, given that many African nations are among the hardest hit countries on earth, as climate-driven droughts, floods and storms get worse every year, despite African nations being among the least responsible for the climate crisis. It’s unacceptable that almost half the human population lives in climate impact hot spots where they are 15 times more likely to die from climate impacts, with these hotspots concentrated across Africa, as well as southern Asia, Latin America and small island states. Boosting adaptation capacity is crucial to addressing this injustice.
Finance remains a major barrier. What steps is the UNFCCC taking to make climate finance more predictable and accessible for African countries?
Big, better and more accessible climate finance is a vital enabler of stronger climate actions by African countries. We are helping countries access support through the Green Climate Fund, the Adaptation Fund, and other channels, while also building capacity so national institutions can directly receive and manage climate finance. At the same time, discussions on the Baku to Belem roadmap to scale up climate finance for developing countries are underway.
These discussions also aim to make finance flows more predictable and responsive to developing country needs. African countries will benefit if strong signals are sent to investors and donors. Our role is to ensure finance is accessible, transparent, and aligned with national priorities.
The Paris Agreement requires countries to raise their ambition over time. What mechanisms exist to help African governments progressively strengthen their NDCs in a realistic way over time?
The Paris Agreement provides a clear framework for all countries to progressively raise their climate ambitions and actions. An UN-convened climate cooperation is working, even if not yet fast enough. Without it, humanity would be headed for up to 5c of global heating – a death sentence. But through cooperation and national efforts, we are now headed for around 3C. Still too high, but it shows how far we have come, and how far still to go, to limit global heating to 1.5c and protect all 8 billion people on earth right now.
This is a key reason this next round of national climate plans – due this year, and ideally as soon as possible – are crucial to cut planet-baking emissions faster, and to spread the massive benefits of strong climate action – stronger economies, more jobs, better health, more secure energy – to all peoples and countries across Africa, and around the developing world.
We also know many African nations are severely capacity-constrained and face urgent development priorities. With this in mind, UN climate change – working with the wider UN system – offers African and other developing countries a range of practical supports from technical guidance to develop strong new climate plans, and financial support to ensure all African nations are represented at annual Climate Conferences every year, called COPs. Many African nations, and Africa together, has been a crucial and leading voice at UN Climate Conferences, so enabling participation is a top priority for me and the UN system, and we are pleased to continue the same support this year.
Peer learning and regional platforms, such as Africa Climate Week and the NAPs Expo, allow governments to share experiences and best practices. Initiatives such as the NDC Partnership also provide direct assistance in aligning these plans with development goals. It is important that ambition increases in a way that reflects national realities, including capacity and finance constraints, while also ensuring countries benefit from the economic opportunities of stronger action.
Looking beyond 2030, how should African countries plan now—through NDCs and other strategies—to prepare for long-term climate risks and ensure sustainable growth?
NDCs are an essential stepping stone, but it’s also entirely in the interests of African countries to align them with longer-term low-emission development strategies. Planning today means investing in sectors that will deliver resilience and competitiveness in the immediate years and decades ahead. For example, scaling up renewables now can avoid lock-in to expensive fossil fuels, while integrated land-use planning can secure both food and biodiversity.
Preparing for climate risks beyond 2030 also requires investing in education, skills, and technology so young people are equipped to drive green growth and seize the massive economic opportunities of the global clean energy boom, which needs to be financed and scaled up dramatically in Africa. Crucially, African countries should ensure that their NDCs are linked to broader strategies for sustainable growth, so climate action is not a burden but a catalyst for prosperity across generations.
