The African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) has called for the delivery of existing climate commitments and predictable, scalable grant-based climate finance for adaptation in Africa at the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31).
The group wants Africa’s priorities at COP31 moved beyond repeating established negotiating positions to securing practical outcomes that would enable countries to implement their National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and long-term climate strategies.
Nana Dr Antwi-Boasiako Amoah, the Chair of AGN speaking at the AGNES Pre-COP31 Strategy Meeting in Nairobi, said COP31 must be an “implementation COP” for Africa, with outcomes that translate climate commitments into concrete action.
The meeting is convened by the African Group of Negotiators Experts Support (AGNES Africa).
“Antalya (Turkey) must be about delivery, not another cycle of promises,” the Chair said, referring to the city in Türkiye, where COP31 is scheduled to take place.
Nana Dr Amoah said Africa’s efforts at COP31 should focus on ensuring access to climate finance, technology, stronger national capacities and support to move adaptation plans from policy documents to investment.
He noted that Africa was “not asking for charity” but for an international financial architecture capable of responding fairly to a global climate problem in which responsibility and vulnerability were unequal.
The Chair said predictable and scalable grant-based climate finance for adaptation remained a major priority for African countries.
He urged African negotiators to maintain pressure on the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage to ensure that it became increasingly accessible, adequately resourced and responsive to vulnerable developing countries.
Across Africa, Nana Dr Amoah said communities were experiencing impacts that could no longer be addressed through adaptation alone, including loss of homes, productive land, livelihoods and cultural heritage.
He stated that governments were also being forced to divert scarce development resources towards repeated recovery and reconstruction following climate-related impacts.
On a just transition, the Chair recalled that Africa supported the global shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development but stressed that the transition should take into account the continent’s energy access needs, poverty eradication, food security, decent jobs, industrialisation and right to development.
Millions of Africans, he noted, still lacked access to modern energy and clean cooking, while the continent had significant renewable energy potential that could support green industrialisation, local value addition and employment.
“The transition must create value in Africa, build industries in Africa, strengthen skills in Africa, and create jobs for Africans,” he said.
Dr Amoah cautioned against climate policies becoming a basis for protectionism or inequitable economic relationships, particularly as they increasingly intersected with trade, investment, critical minerals, agriculture, technology and industrial policy.
The Chair said COP31 should also be viewed as part of a continuum leading from Belém to Antalya and ultimately to Addis Ababa, where COP32 is expected to be held in 2027.
“Success in Antalya will not be measured by how often Africa speaks, but by how effectively Africa shapes the outcome,” Nana Dr Amoah said.
On technical support for negotiations, the Chair commended AGNES for its contribution to agriculture and gender issues and for building capacity and generating evidence to support African negotiators.
He said stronger links were needed among African universities, research institutions, policymakers and negotiators to ensure that negotiations were supported by current and credible African data.
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