With the world’s youngest population, vast natural resources, unparalleled renewable energy potential, and extraordinary diversity and human ingenuity, Africa is a colossal coiled spring of climate action possibility. This Climate Week has shown that African innovators are putting forward pioneering solutions to boost climate resilience and cut planet-heating emissions.
However, it has also highlighted again that only a fraction of this potential has yet been realized. Global decarbonisation is charging ahead, with clean energy investments hitting $2 trillion last year alone, driving economic growth and millions of new jobs, but only a fraction of that investment is flowing to African nations. The Climate Week has again shown climate adaptation can be truly transformative through protecting communities, people, businesses, infrastructure and creating new development gains, as it is as crucial for climate justice as it is for safeguarding infrastructure and communities. But despite these huge dividends, available at relatively low cost, Africa remains starved of adaptation investments at scale.
