By Bunmi Yekini
ActionAid International has welcomed the outcome of the second Africa Climate Summit, applauding African leaders for collectively calling for debt cancellation, grants instead of loans in climate financing, and a unified African position ahead of COP30 in Brazil.
However, the organization has warned against expanding carbon offset and debt swap schemes, describing them as “short-term distractions” that do little to address the root causes of the climate crisis.
“There are positives to take from the summit, such as the clear calls for debt cancellation and the need for grants and not loans in climate finance,” said Emmaqulate Kemunto, Africa Regional Campaigner at ActionAid International. “We still call for real solutions to the climate crisis. It is worrying for the continent that the roots of carbon markets are getting deeper.”
A recent ActionAid USA report, Caution Required: Protecting Communities from Carbon Markets, found that carbon offset projects often fail to cut emissions and deliver minimal benefits to local communities. In Kenya, for instance, only 2% of total project revenue reaches community conservancies, while most of the money goes to intermediaries and foreign companies.
“African leaders must wake up and smell the coffee, carbon markets and debt swaps are not viable climate solutions. They are short-term distractions,” Kemunto added.
ActionAid also praised the summit’s reaffirmed commitment to the Kampala Declaration on Agriculture and support for smallholder farmers, especially women and youth. The organization urged governments to back up these pledges with concrete financial support for agroecology.
“The commitments to sustainable agriculture must move from being mere rhetoric,” said Nigus Simane, Interim Country Director at ActionAid Ethiopia. “Governments must put their money where their mouths are and increase public financing of agroecology and embrace the practice in national policies.”
With COP30 drawing closer, ActionAid stressed the importance of a united African front to demand climate justice and financing for a just transition.
“Gone are the days of the rich polluting countries and corporates folding their hands at the crisis they created,” said Bavon Christopher, Country Director at ActionAid Tanzania. “At COP30, African negotiators must unequivocally demand climate financing for Africa’s just transition that is adequate and ensures that the needs and rights of the people of Africa are not compromised.”