COP31: Africa secures early win in climate finance dispute

By Seth Onyango

Africa scored an early win at COP31 after overcoming wealthy nations’ resistance to secure formal talks on their climate finance obligations under the Paris Agreement.

The breakthrough came after negotiations stretched into the opening of the UN climate summit on Monday in Antalya, Türkiye. The African Group of Negotiators (AGN) and other developing countries had pushed for a dedicated place on the agenda to discuss how developed countries provide public climate finance.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, AGN chair Nana Dr Antwi-Boasiako Amoah said developed countries initially opposed including the climate finance work programme on the agenda, then proposed conditions African negotiators rejected.

“So all the night, the work we did was to make sure that the agenda item, as it was presented, is adopted, and we got that one,” he said.

The decision gives developing countries a forum to examine how wealthy nations fulfil Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, which requires developed countries to provide financial resources to help developing countries cut emissions and adapt to climate change. Amoah had told bird story agency before the summit that securing that forum would itself mark progress.

The two-year work programme was established at COP30 in Belém, Brazil. During the Antalya talks, the European Union argued that giving it a separate agenda item risked reopening the Belém compromise. The EU favours discussing Article 9.1 alongside the wider finance provisions of Article 9.

For African negotiators, the distinction matters. The wider framework covers funding from a range of sources, including private investment and loans. Governments have long disagreed over how much should come directly from wealthy countries and how much should be provided as grants.

Africa pushes for different transition timelines

Amoah said countries that depend on fossil fuel revenues need time to diversify or enough finance and technology to make a faster shift to cleaner energy.

Responding to a question about national roadmaps for moving away from fossil fuels, he said transition plans should account for historical emissions, levels of development and reliance on fossil fuel revenues. Africa accounts for roughly 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, he said, while oil and gas remain important sources of public revenue and export earnings for countries including Nigeria, Angola and Algeria.

“One is to allow the timelines to be different, so that Africa doesn’t have that tightening structure in terms of timelines with the big emitters, because those emitters have already developed, and we also have the right to develop,” he said.

“We cannot allow those assets to be stranded,” he added.

The alternative, he said, was for developed countries to help pay for a faster transition and provide the technology to make it possible.

“If you want us to be able to go the way you want to, then give us the needed technology and finance to just transition to where you are,” Amoah said.

At COP28 in Dubai, countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly and equitable manner, taking national circumstances into account. At COP31, African negotiators want the just transition mechanism agreed in Belém to address what that shift will require in practice, from jobs and affordable electricity to clean cooking, technology transfer and financial support.

“So a transition without laid out means of implementation cannot be a just transition,” Amoah said.

The fight over adaptation finance

Developing countries have pressed for more predictable funding since wealthy nations pledged at COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009 to mobilise US$100 billion a year by 2020. They reached that target two years late, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operatin and Development which put the 2024 total at US$136,7 billion.

At COP29 in Baku in 2024, governments agreed to raise the annual goal to at least US$300 billion by 2035, alongside a wider effort to mobilise US$1,3 trillion a year from all sources.

African governments and other developing countries criticised the amount and the continued reliance on loans and private capital.

In Belém, countries agreed to at least triple adaptation finance for developing countries by 2035. The UN Environment Programme estimates that developing countries will need more than US$300 billion a year for adaptation by then. African governments say droughts and floods are already putting pressure on public budgets stretched by debt repayments.

African negotiators sought a separate agenda item in Antalya to establish a baseline for the tripling pledge and set out how funding would rise each year. They fell short of consensus on a standalone item and can still raise it through the finance work programme and talks on the Global Goal on Adaptation. The group is also considering seeking language on adaptation finance in the summit’s final political decision.

“If you don’t know the baseline, you cannot measure how much has come in, and that’s very important,” Amoah said.

The group also secured room to discuss the Green Climate Fund’s financing needs under existing arrangements ahead of its next replenishment. Amoah expressed concern about declining contributions to international environmental funds, citing a roughly 27% reduction associated with the Global Environment Facility’s replenishment. He questioned wealthy governments’ priorities, pointing to how quickly they mobilise money for military operations and energy security.

“Our understanding is that there’s money, but there’s no money for climate,” he said.

The group is also pressing for talks on climate-related trade measures, amid concerns that new carbon-related import rules could raise costs for African exporters. The proposed item stayed off the formal agenda, but negotiators secured a chance to contribute to a ministerial dialogue expected next year.

The summit runs until November 20. For African negotiators, the next test is whether the opening breakthrough leads to commitments on how much finance will be available, on what terms and when it will reach developing countries.