Fourteenth Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa opens in Addis Ababa under the theme "From Pledges to Implementation: The Belém-Antalya-Addis Roadmap"
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 7 September 2026 (ECA) - The Fourteenth Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-14) opened today at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, convened by ClimDev-Africa partners; the United Nation Economic Commission of Africa (ECA), African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Union Commission. Discussions over the next three days will feed into the Addis Ababa Climate Action Messages, shaping Africa's position ahead of COP31 in Antalya and laying groundwork for an African-led COP32 in 2027.
The ECA’s Executive Secretary, Claver Gatete, presided over the opening ceremony alongside AU Commissioner Moses Vilakati, moderated by Mercy Wambui. Considering, the theme and in order to first acknowledge the climate disasters worldwide, delegates opened with a minute of silence for Nepal and others affected by extreme climate events.
"We have negotiated commitments. We have set targets. And we have developed Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans. Yet implementation continues to lag behind," Mr. Gatete told delegates. Africa contributes less than 4 percent of global emissions but bears disproportionate impacts, he said, adding a warning: "We must not allow it to limit Africa's climate story to one of victimhood."
He argued that finance is the biggest obstacle. Africa needs $277 billion a year to implement its NDCs through 2030, Mr. Gatete said, and current flows cover only about 11 percent of that. Grants and concessional resources should come before debt-adding instruments, he argued, and the AfCFTA is the vehicle for turning the continent's renewable energy and mineral wealth into jobs.
Mr. Vilakati put it more bluntly: the question for CCDA-14 is not what Africa wants from COP32, but what Africa is prepared to propose. He named climate finance and adaptation as the top priorities, pointing to the Kampala Declaration and gaps the Africa Early Warning Forum flagged this year.
Civil society weighed in too. Mr. Mithika Mwenda, Executive Director of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, told delegates CCDA-14 cannot be "another talk shop": the 2025 Addis Ababa Declaration, he said, has to move from declaration to delivery.
Mr. James Kinyangi, the AfDB’s Coordinator for the Climate and Development Special Fund, laid out the numbers behind the Climate Action Window: $450.9 million mobilized from seven donors, $386 million committed across 79 projects, and early warning coverage now reaching 15 million people in 12 countries. Separately, the Bank has mobilized $8.4 billion for adaptation and delivered $3.3 billion of its $6.5 billion Great Green Wall pledge.
Ms. Olubunmi Obasanjo-Williams, representing Afreximbank, said the institution will direct 5 percent of long-term loans to climate finance by 2030, with 70 percent set aside for adaptation. She held up the $3 billion DRC-Zambia Battery Value Chain project, being implemented in collaboration with ECA and other partners, as proof of what that can look like in practice.
CCDA-14 runs through 9 September and is expected to produce a COP31 strategic framework, a COP32 Presidency options paper, and a unified African Common Position. The ECA’s Deputy Executive Secretary Hanan Morsy will deliver closing remarks.
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