This week marks the beginning of the 27th Climate Change Convention (CoP27), which is rightfully christened the African CoP as it takes place in the Egyptian City of Sharm El Sheikh, but also because it presents the best opportunity for Africa to take leadership in determining the future of its mitigation and adaptation course, particularly as pertains to financing.

 While it has previously been the expectation that the developed countries, who incidentally are the largest contributors of carbon emissions would come around to sufficiently support developing countries in climate finance, this assistance has been slow to come. This has necessitated a shift in perspective to include the incorporation of mitigation and adaptation goals into national, regional, and continental planning and budgetary systems.

Africa remains one of the regions that are worst affected by climate change, even as it contributes the least of global emissions. Today, the changing precipitation patterns are undermining the continents food and water security. Food insecurity increases by 5–20 percentage points with each drought or flood in sub-Saharan Africa, and global warming is expected to melt Africa’s remaining glaciers in the next few decades reducing the availability of water, an essential component of agricultural production.

Ultimately, with agriculture being critical to Africa’s economic transformation, climate change would continue to increase the risk for agriculture sector investors, destabilize local markets and limit economic growth.

Faced with such risks, we must now arrive at the conclusion that Africa’s overreliance on foreign assistance may delay adaptation plans, and that the quicker way forward is to create own financing mechanisms, including the blending of public and private sector finance in de-risking investments in climate action.

For a rapid take-off, African governments and leadership must take charge and create a policy environment that encourages private-sector investments with a climate angle.  Recent commitments, including the Africa Common Position at the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, and more at the AGRF Summit this year, show an eagerness by African governments to position the war against climate change as a key development agenda. However, the commitments can only be validated by a policy direction that clearly brings out the central position of climate finance in the envisioned transformation.

The idea here is to mobilize private finance, which as at now, remains the biggest hope of meeting the continent’s climate goals. As of today, nearly 87% — or$20bn — of Africa’s annual climate finance emanates from public actors, with very limited contribution from the private sector. And with annual needs of $280bn to implement the continent’s Nationally Determined Contributions by 2030, it goes without saying that private sector investments are an urgent necessity, which can be quickened by shattering existing investment barriers through supportive policies.  

Meanwhile, as governments create an environment that fosters local contribution to climate finance, private sector players must also independently devise ways of contributing to the war against climate change. The truth is, we all, in one way or another, suffer the adverse consequences of the warming climate, and private enterprises are not excluded. The inculcation of a climate agenda within the strategies of private businesses would, therefore, drive meaningful contribution to continental climate action.

We also expect more activity from scientists and researchers, who are now called upon to draft convincing plans and strategies to encourage the uptake of carbon credits and other reward systems for contributions towards climate change mitigation and adaptation. This community plays a key role in provoking rapid and far-reaching action across many sectors, and their dedication participation would lead to activities that mainstream climate action investment, across many different sectors.

Finally, Africa’s farmers, perhaps the biggest victims of climate change, must in their own small way contribute to climate action. Farmer groups must be active in educating their members of their role in mitigation and adaptation and we expect their dedicated contribution through such activities as the creation of communal tree nurseries and supporting of sustainable land management program that includes tree planting initiatives soil & water management of degraded lands across the watershed.

But it is still important to reiterate that the world’s greatest emitters must remain accountable, and that we in Africa and other developing regions expect them to honor their $100bn annual climate finance pledge beyond the lips service.

In conclusion, we must realize that we are now at a change-point, where the business-as-usual approach must be discarded, and new strategy that engages all our participation in climate action is embraced. For Africa’s leaders, this is the right time for transformation, and in the next two weeks of the African CoP we expect to see more local and sustainable climate finance initiatives.

The writer is the former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, and the current Board Chair of the AGRF Partners Group. The AGRF is Africa’s premier convening platform for inclusive agricultural transformation.