Addis Ababa, September 6, 2025 (FMC) — Ethiopia and the United Nations have urged the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to take concrete next steps, with ambitious outcomes that turn agreements into tangible results and scalable solutions that usher in a new era of climate action implementation.
The call was made in a joint statement by Ethiopia’s Minister of Planning and Development, Fitsum Assefa, and UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell, reflecting on the six-day UN Climate Week held in Addis Ababa.
According to the statement, Climate Week has demonstrated that no continent holds greater potential than Africa to implement climate actions that transform both lives and economies. With the world’s youngest population, vast natural resources, exceptional renewable energy potential, and remarkable human ingenuity, Africa represents a “colossal coiled spring” of climate action possibilities.
The week highlighted pioneering African innovations designed to enhance climate resilience and reduce emissions, yet only a fraction of this potential has been realized. While global decarbonization is accelerating—with clean energy investments reaching \$2 trillion last year and generating millions of jobs—only a small portion of these investments are flowing to African nations.
The statement also recalled concrete outcomes from recent COPs that are meant to benefit Africa and other developing regions: the historic Loss and Damage Fund at COP27; just transitions to clean energy and sectoral transformations that leave no one behind; the global adaptation goal at COP28; the planned tripling of climate finance to developing countries—set to reach \$1.3 trillion annually by 2035; and operational carbon markets at COP29.
To fully realize these gains, the statement emphasized, COP30 must deliver ambitious, actionable outcomes on the ground and scalable solutions to drive real-world impact.
The timing of Climate Week was deliberately designed to build momentum for the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2), taking place next week in Addis Ababa. The Summit will unite leaders with urgency and purpose, providing Africa a platform to project climate leadership and set the stage for COP30.
The ACS2 is a crucial opportunity to send a clear message: Africa is ready to accelerate climate action, but COP30 must ensure the continent is fully empowered to do so. In short, COP30 must deliver for Africa’s 1.5 billion people.
When all nations are equipped to take bold climate actions, the benefits ripple globally—strengthening the world economy and uplifting all 8 billion people on the planet.