The Director General of the African Union Commission, Fathallah Sijilmassi, emphasized the importance of climate financing as a priority for the African continent during a meeting in Addis Ababa on Monday.
He highlighted that funding for adaptation without overburdening debt, renewable energy projects, and mobilizing public and private funds, as well as green industrialization, are key topics for Africa in international forums. Sijilmassi was speaking at a side event organized at Kenya’s pavilion during the 2nd African Climate Summit, which assessed the Paris Agreement, ten years after its adoption.
He clarified that the African climate agenda is part of the broader Agenda 2063, which is the framework for African development. During this event, he showcased the continent’s priorities, noting that this agenda aligns with various African sectoral strategies, primarily those related to climate change and resilience, supplemented by strategies adopted under the African Union concerning disaster risk reduction, meteorology, oceans, blue economy, as well as green transition, critical minerals, and agriculture.
Sijilmassi pointed out that actions taken in Africa often fit into more specific frameworks that are consistent with continental strategies, addressing geographically and sectorally defined needs and challenges. He praised the three commissions launched at COP 22 in Morocco focused on the Congo basin, the Sahel, and island states.
Similarly, he mentioned initiatives such as Morocco’s Triple AAA and Tanzania’s Clean Cooking initiative, along with Mission 300 on energy.
Emphasizing that African priorities are reflected in all these platforms to restore greater climate justice, Sijilmassi asserted that the aim is not merely to assist Africa with its challenges, but to transform its vast potential into a solution for global issues.
Africa continually demonstrates the success of various projects, highlighting both the continent’s immense potential and numerous achievements. However, he noted that this continental dynamic needs to be integrated into a wider international agenda, including the United Nations, under the Pact for the Future, at COP 30 in Brazil, at the G20, and during the Seville Summit on Development Financing.
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