Addis Ababa, September 30, 2025 (ENA)—The Green Climate Fund (GCF) Regional Dialogue opened at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Addis Ababa, bringing together over 400 participants from more than 43 countries. The three-day event, hosted by Ethiopia, is being held under the theme: “GCF.10: 10 Years of Climate Impact – Towards a Resilient Africa: Advancing Regional Solutions for Climate Action, Sustainable Growth, and Inclusive Development.” Seyoum Mekonen, State Minister of Planning and Development, officially launched the Dialogue, stressing that Ethiopia’s climate ambition is deeply embedded in its development priorities. He highlighted the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam delivering 5,150 MW of clean energy and the 48 billion trees planted under the Green Legacy Initiative as proof of Ethiopia’s practical commitment to sustainable growth. Seyoum also urged delegates to build on the outcomes of the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2), including the launch of the African Climate Innovation Compact (ACIC) and the Africa Climate Facility (ACF), which showcase Africa as a provider of homegrown climate solutions. Catherine Koffman, GCF Director for Africa, reaffirmed the Fund’s support for aligning reforms with African priorities, while James Murombedzi of UNECA emphasized the need to shift from “aid” to “investment” in global climate finance. Ethiopia also formally proposed Addis Ababa as the host of the planned GCF Africa Regional Office, citing the city’s status as the diplomatic capital of the continent, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

By Mahder Nesibu Addis Ababa, September 28, 2025 (ENA) -- The Second African Climate Summit, held in Addis Ababa from 8–10 September 2025, marked a defining moment in Africa’s approach to climate change. Traditionally framed as a region vulnerable to global emissions yet lacking bargaining leverage, Africa has increasingly asserted itself as a source of practical solutions, innovative finance, and policy leadership. The summit, convened under the theme “Accelerating Global Climate Solutions: Financing for Africa’s Resilient and Green Development,” sought to reposition the continent from a passive recipient of climate commitments to a proactive architect of its climate future. By producing the Addis Ababa Declaration on Climate Change and Call to Action, launching the Africa Climate Innovation Compact (ACIC) and the African Climate Facility (ACF), initiated by Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, ACS2 combined political unity, operational ambition, and strategic financing to chart a pathway for Africa’s influence in global climate forums, particularly the upcoming COP30 in Belém, Brazil. At its core, the summit reflected recognition that Africa’s climate challenges cannot be addressed piecemeal. Fragmented national positions and uneven institutional capacities had long weakened the continent’s negotiating influence and limited its access to both public and private finance. ACS2 addressed this through a combination of political consensus and operational instruments. The Addis Ababa Declaration, unanimously endorsed by participating Heads of State and Government, crystallized continental priorities: adaptation and resilience as financing imperatives, renewable energy expansion and green industrialization as growth engines, and a commitment to Africa-led mechanisms for project delivery and finance mobilization. By translating strategic goals into a shared document, the summit established both a narrative and a framework for collective action, strengthening Africa’s bargaining position on the global stage. The Africa Climate Innovation Compact represents the summit’s operational linchpin. Designed to identify, incubate, and scale climate solutions developed on the continent, ACIC sets an ambitious target of delivering 1,000 bankable solutions by 2030, spanning energy, agriculture, water, transport, and urban resilience. Complementing this, the African Climate Facility functions as a financing instrument intended to mobilize approximately US$50 billion per year in catalytic capital, blending public, private, and multilateral resources to bridge the persistent gap between pilot initiatives and scalable projects. Together, these mechanisms constitute a “pipeline-plus-capital” model, which directly addresses the historical challenge of Africa possessing innovative solutions yet lacking the financial infrastructure to deploy them at scale. By linking solution identification with robust financing, ACIC and ACF embody a credible, results-oriented approach that transforms political commitments into actionable projects.   The significance of these instruments extends beyond their immediate financial or technological scope. They demonstrate Africa’s ability to self-organize at continental scale, coordinating innovation ecosystems, diaspora engagement, and regional financiers to generate tangible climate outcomes. ACIC emphasizes local ownership, drawing upon universities, research centres, and indigenous knowledge systems, ensuring that interventions are contextually appropriate, socially inclusive, and operationally sustainable. Similarly, the ACF’s catalytic design signals to global investors that African projects are structured for impact, with mechanisms for risk mitigation, blended finance, and transparent governance. This combination strengthens Africa’s credibility in international negotiations, transforming the continent from a perceived climate recipient into a credible climate partner. The summit also produced a series of financing breakthroughs that enhance Africa’s capacity to act independently. A cooperation framework among African development finance institutions and commercial banks, collectively targeting US$100 billion in mobilization, illustrates the continent’s readiness to deploy capital for green industrialization and renewable infrastructure. Additional commitments, including partnership arrangements led by the European Investment Bank to unlock up to €100 billion in investment by 2027, and bilateral pledges from Denmark and Italy, reinforce the signal that Africa can coordinate domestic and international finance to operationalize climate priorities. These flows, while supplementary, provide the critical early-stage funding needed to establish proof-of-concept projects and catalyse private investment. Beyond financing, ACS2 underscored the importance of programmatic coherence. The summit endorsed the second phase of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP 2.0), aiming to mobilize US$50 billion by 2030 to climate-proof food systems, infrastructure, and urban areas. Simultaneously, sectoral initiatives such as Mission 300, targeting energy access for 300 million people by 2030, and regional clean cooking programs, demonstrate Africa’s ability to design interventions with measurable social, economic, and environmental co-benefits. By aligning these programs with ACIC and ACF, the summit creates a pipeline of bankable, high-impact projects that both domestic governments and international partners can support.   Ethiopia, as host, highlighted the role of national leadership in demonstrating ambition and feasibility. The country showcased large-scale climate and infrastructure interventions, including ongoing tree-planting campaigns under its Green Legacy initiative and the political and operational milestones surrounding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Ethiopia’s simultaneous announcement of its bid to host COP32 in 2027 signals a broader strategic intent: Africa is not merely a venue for discussion but an architect of the global climate agenda. By integrating domestic action, diplomatic engagement, and continental facilitation, Ethiopia exemplifies the potential for African states to merge national achievement with collective leadership. The broader significance of ACS2 lies in its contribution to a unified African voice at COP30 and subsequent climate forums. Historically, fragmented positions and varying national capacities limited the continent’s influence, particularly in negotiations over adaptation finance, debt sustainability, and energy transition. By consolidating priorities into the Addis Ababa Declaration, linking them to operational mechanisms, and signalling robust finance mobilization, Africa now presents a coherent package: a set of pragmatic asks underpinned by delivery mechanisms. This clarity strengthens both political leverage and credibility, while aligning continental demands with global financing targets, such as the UNFCCC’s “Baku to Belém Roadmap” for scaling climate finance to US$1.3 trillion annually by 2035. At the same time, ACS2 demonstrates the strategic role of diaspora engagement and innovation ecosystems in extending Africa’s climate reach. ACIC’s design explicitly incorporates partnerships with universities, SMEs, and research institutions, while leveraging diaspora networks to amplify solutions internationally. These linkages create both technical capacity and narrative influence: Africa is not only a recipient of climate finance but a generator of scalable, bankable, and replicable solutions. By creating platforms for knowledge transfer and investment mobilization, ACS2 embodies a model in which innovation, finance, and political unity converge to strengthen continental agency.   Nevertheless, the summit also highlighted the challenges inherent in ambition. Operationalizing ACIC and ACF requires the rapid establishment of governance structures, capital mobilization, and monitoring mechanisms. Delivering US$50 billion annually, alongside 1,000 bankable solutions by 2030, remains aspirational, dependent on domestic policy alignment, regulatory reform, and sustained international cooperation. Ensuring that adaptation finance remains largely grant-based and non-debt-creating is essential to prevent exacerbating sovereign vulnerabilities, while investor confidence will hinge upon regulatory clarity, transparent reporting, and predictable policy frameworks. These risks, however, are mitigated by the deliberate integration of political consensus, operational instruments, and finance mobilization evident at ACS2. Comparative reflection on these outcomes illustrates several lessons. ACS2 demonstrates that political unity, operational design, and finance mobilization are mutually reinforcing. The Addis Ababa Declaration consolidates Africa’s priorities and narrative, ACIC and ACF translate ambition into implementable projects, and continental finance frameworks signal capability and readiness to both domestic and international partners. Just as Africa’s cultural and creative industries have leveraged diaspora networks, technological ecosystems, and state support to project influence, ACS2 demonstrates that climate leadership can similarly be structured, scalable, and credible. Finally, the summit emphasizes the strategic and symbolic dimension of African climate leadership. By projecting a unified voice, operational capacity, and financing ambition, ACS2 positions the continent not only as a claimant to climate resources but as a credible partner capable of delivering tangible outcomes. This reframing is critical: Africa moves from a narrative of vulnerability to one of agency, from a perceived recipient to a source of deployable solutions. If the operational frameworks and financing mechanisms established at Addis Ababa are implemented effectively, ACS2 may mark a turning point—where Africa’s climate ambitions are no longer aspirational rhetoric but tangible, measurable, and globally recognized. The Summit exemplifies the intersection of political cohesion, operational innovation, and strategic financing as instruments of continental agency. Through the Addis Ababa Declaration, the Africa Climate Innovation Compact, and the African Climate Facility, Africa has crafted a framework capable of shaping its climate trajectory while strengthening its negotiating position internationally. By linking ambition to implementable projects, mobilizing domestic and international capital, and fostering continental unity, ACS2 offers a blueprint for Africa to transform climate vulnerability into opportunity, influence, and leadership on the global stage.

Addis Ababa, September 21, 2025 (ENA) -- An ocean agreement to govern the high seas was struck at the end of this week when Morocco became the 60th nation to sign on. The high seas treaty is the first legal framework aimed at protecting marine biodiversity in international waters, which account for nearly two-thirds of the ocean and nearly half of Earth’s surface. These areas, which lie beyond the jurisdiction of any single country, are vulnerable to threats including overfishing, climate change and deep-sea mining. “The high seas are the world’s largest crime scene,” said Johan Bergenas, senior vice president of Oceans at the World Wildlife Fund. Still, the pact’s strength is uncertain as some of the world’s biggest players — the US, China, Russia and Japan — have yet to ratify. The US and China have signed, signaling intent to align with the treaty’s objectives without creating legal obligations, while Japan and Russia have been active in preparatory talks. Ratification triggers a 120-day countdown for the treaty to take effect. But much more work remains to flesh out how it will be implemented, financed and enforced. Lisa Speer, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's international oceans program, said the treaty fills a gap for protecting waters that, because they belong to no one, are “the responsibility of all of us and none of us at the same time.” And failing to protect those waters could mean damage for any individual nation's waters, she added. “Marine life doesn’t respect political boundaries. So fish migrate across the ocean. ... Same with turtles, with seabirds, and a whole host of other marine life,” Speer said. “And so what happens in the high sea can really affect the health and resilience of the ocean within national jurisdiction, within our coastal waters.” The high seas are home to a vast array of marine life and play a crucial role in regulating Earth’s climate — they absorb heat and carbon dioxide, and generate half the oxygen we breathe. The treaty is also essential to achieving what’s known as the global “30x30” target — an international pledge to protect 30 percent of the planet’s land and sea by 2030. The treaty creates a legal process for countries to establish marine protected areas in those waters, including rules for potentially destructive activities like deep-sea mining and geoengineering schemes. It also establishes a framework for technology-sharing, funding mechanisms and scientific collaboration among countries. Crucially, decisions under the treaty will be made multilaterally through what are known as conferences of parties (COPs) rather than by individual countries acting alone. Within one year of the treaty taking effect, countries will meet to work out the foundational questions of implementation, financing and oversight at that first COP. Only countries that ratify before COP1 will have voting rights at COP1. Some experts warn the treaty’s impact could be blunted if the most powerful players on the high seas remain outside it. The treaty does not create a punitive enforcement body of its own. Instead, it largely relies on individual countries to regulate their own ships and companies, according to the African News.

Addis Ababa, September 20, 2025 (ENA) -- The Ministry of Water and Energy announced that the volume of water in rivers and lakes is increasing annually as a result of the Green Legacy and watershed development initiatives in Ethiopia. The Space Science and Geospatial Institute, for its part, confirmed that its study on six selected lakes showed a significant increase in their water levels. Debebe Deferso, Lead Executive of Integrated Water Resource Management at the Ministry of Water and Energy, said that in recent years, water bodies have been restored by integrating the Green Legacy Initiative with watershed development programs.   He added that the planted seedlings have prevented soil erosion, allowing for better water infiltration and increasing groundwater levels. He also noted a significant improvement in the water levels of lakes and rivers. Lakes that had previously experienced a decline in water volume or even dried up are now recovering due to the Green Legacy and watershed development efforts. Tesfaye Dagne, Lead Executive of Digital Image Processing at the Space Science and Geospatial Institute, said the institute studied the water volume and annual changes of six selected lakes over the past 30 years. The study was conducted on Lake Haramaya, Abijata, Tana, Ziway, Chelekleka, and Adele. He stated that data on Lake Haramaya and Adele from 30 years ago indicated they had a high water volume. However, they were at risk of disappearing in recent years.   Tesfaye added that scientific data confirms that their water levels have increased since the start of the Green Legacy and green development initiatives. He said that the geospatial study shows this change is a result of the expansion of green development and the rehabilitation of degraded lands. Tesfaye also mentioned that the institute is working to collect data on areas affected by land degradation to align with the Green Legacy Initiatives. By identifying these areas, the institute provides professional guidance on where to plant seedlings each year.