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A High-Level Technical Dialogue on Climate Finance in Africa

By SouthSouthNorth

July 16^th, 2025

Priorities, Access, and the Role of Article 2.1(c) of the Paris Agreement

As global efforts to scale climate finance accelerate, Africa stands at a crossroads. The continent faces mounting climate risks with limited resources, while global financial systems struggle to turn ambition into action. Despite new commitments, including the $1.3 trillion annual climate finance target by 2035 and the promise in Article 2.1(c) of the Paris Agreement, a wide gap remains between global pledges and the realities faced by African governments, institutions, and communities.

By the end of a two-day High-Level Technical Dialogue, hosted by SouthSouthNorth (SSN) in partnership with South Africa’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), one message was clear: Africa is not asking to be included in global climate finance debates. It is stepping forward to lead on reform, with defined priorities, firm red lines, and a shared vision for a just, resilient future.

Photo: Mr Josh Ogada, Director at SSN, facilitating the dialogue.

A High-Level Technical Dialogue on Climate Finance in Africa

To respond to these challenges, SSN’s Aligning Financial Flows in Africa programme, supported by Germany’s International Climate Initiative (IKI), convened senior African negotiators, policymakers, climate fund representatives, development banks, and civil society leaders in Cape Town on 3 to 4 June 2025. Together, they sought to shape a coordinated African multistakeholder priorities that turns global finance promises into real outcomes and to unpack the implications of Article 2.1(c) of the Paris Agreement in Africa.

This conversation took place amid major international processes, such as the Baku to Belém Roadmap consultations, the Sharm el-Sheikh Dialogue on Article 2.1(c) at the 62nd sessions of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies (SB 62), and preparations for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4). Within this context, the central question of the dialogue clearly arose: how can Africa step forward as a strategic leader, co-designing a climate finance system that reflects its development needs and values?

More than a technical workshop, the dialogue became a catalyst for collective clarity and strategic direction. It signalled a deliberate shift toward asserting African agency at the centre of global climate finance governance.

Framing the Dialogue: A Political Economy Lens on Climate Finance

Africa’s leading climate finance voices opened the dialogue with clarity and urgency. Dr Shehnaaz Moosa, Director at SSN, emphasised the need to centre technical evidence in shaping Africa’s narrative. Mr Maesela Kekana, Deputy Director-General at South Africa’s DFFE, warned of a “dream deferred” if finance systems fail to reflect justice and resilience. Dr Richard Muyungi, Chair of the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN), joined virtually to underline Africa’s right to pursue development pathways aligned with energy access, clean cooking, and a just transition, drawing attention to the continent’s “green wealth” in renewables and minerals.

Photos: Dr Shehnaaz Moosa, Director at SSN, delivering opening remarks (left). Mr Maesela Kekana, Deputy Director-General at the DFFE, delivering opening remarks and officially opening the dialogue (right).

Grounding Article 2.1(c) in Africa: From Alignment to Strategic Agency

Building on this framing, participants turned to Article 2.1(c) of the Paris Agreement, which, although frequently referenced, remains poorly understood. The provision calls for all finance flows, public versus private and international versus domestic, to align with low-emission, climate-resilient development pathways. But what does that look like in African contexts?

The discussion made one thing clear: alignment is not just a technical exercise. It is a political project. African countries are too often on the receiving end of narrowly defined interpretations that ignore adaptation, restrict concessionality, and impose one-size-fits-all pathways. The tension is visible in the gap between rising NDC ambition and scarce implementation finance.

Some, like Zambia, have integrated NDC considerations into national budgets and developed green finance tools, but uptake in the economy remains limited. In many cases, the finance that is mobilised arrives as debt rather than grants.

Participants also flagged a critical weakness: unlike other parts of the Paris Agreement, Article 2.1(c) is non-binding. This voluntary framing shifts the burden onto developing countries without matching the ambition with finance. Alignment strategies must go beyond creating national taxonomies; they must challenge systemic barriers and build a finance architecture fit for Africa’s realities.

Confronting Structural Inequities in Global Finance Architecture

From this point, the dialogue expanded to structural questions. Delegates examined why Africa receives less than 2% of global climate finance and why over 60% of it arrives as debt. The reasons are not incidental. They are systemic.

Participants highlighted a familiar set of barriers: fragmented funding streams, donor-driven priorities, restrictive eligibility rules, and due diligence processes that stall progress. The cost is high. National systems are bypassed. Local ownership is eroded. Critical adaptation projects remain unfunded.

Key concerns included:

Over-engineered safeguards and due diligence that delay project approvals and disincentivise ambition.
Fragmented donor requirements that burden countries with inconsistent reporting and compliance rules.
Underinvestment in national institutions that leads to reliance on external intermediaries, weakening local ownership.

The conversation moved from diagnosis to solutions. From reforming credit rating methodologies to building African-led platforms for climate finance coordination, the message was consistent: systems must shift from conditionality to enablement, from external control to national ownership.

Photo: Session 1 on Africa’s Climate Finance Priorities – Aligning Needs, Mandates, and Mechanisms, with panellists Mr Jonathan First (Senior Advisor and Africa Representative, Climate Policy Initiative), Mr Yusuf Hussein (Climate Finance Advisor, Executive Office of the President, Kenya), and Ms Cecilia Silva Bernardo (Director, Ministry of Environment, Angola).

Navigating Complexity: Private Sector and Institutional Readiness

With structural challenges laid bare, attention turned to the private sector. Mobilising private capital is often presented as a panacea, yet in Africa, it remains limited, accounting for just 20% of climate finance.

Participants called for better enabling environments to attract investment. This includes de-risking strategies, stronger regulatory frameworks, and the capacity to develop bankable projects aligned with national goals. Several mechanisms were explored—blended finance, Article 6 carbon markets, and debt-for-nature swaps. Each holds potential but also presents challenges.

Carbon markets, for example, could unlock new revenue but carry risks around volatility and integrity. Debt-for-nature swaps require careful design to ensure long-term value. Blended finance can work, especially when country-owned and transparently structured, but it must not replace public or concessional finance where it is most needed.

Photo: Ms Margaret Kamau (AfDB) and Ms Nelly Busingye (Tax Justice Network Africa) called for structural reforms in climate finance, from fixing credit rating systems to plugging illicit flows and supporting fair taxation.

"We need to make adaptation investable."

- Ms Malango Mughogho

From Fragmentation to Coherence: Institutional and Policy Integration

From finance sources, the dialogue moved into the machinery of governance. Many African countries struggle with internal fragmentation—siloed ministries, conflicting mandates, and limited coordination. These institutional frictions undermine efficient climate finance mobilisation. To address this, participants proposed:

Whole-of-government approaches that break silos.
Integrating NDCs into national budgets and development planning.
Institutionalising long-term strategies (LT-LEDS) that link climate ambition to economic vision.

Zambia’s experience was again referenced as a model. Its climate finance unit within the Ministry of Finance is helping ensure consistency and alignment across government.

The conclusion was clear: institutional integration is as critical as external finance. Without it, even the best resources cannot be translated into results.

Photo: Day 1 – Lively conversations during the networking break at the Dialogue.

Redesigning Climate Finance: From Alignment to Transformation

The dialogue then returned to the bigger picture: how to move from alignment to transformation. This meant not only adjusting systems but fundamentally rethinking the architecture.

Proposals included:

Building institutional readiness to lead, not follow, on finance programming.
Shifting from fragmented projects to scalable, programmatic support.
Defining alignment in a way that reflects Africa’s values—equity, resilience, and development, not just emissions metrics.

This transformation must be grounded in a balanced vision. Article 2.1(c) can be a catalyst, but only if it supports development and adaptation alongside mitigation.

Photo: Ms Aimee Tredoux outlined a 9-step pathway to operationalise Article 2.1(c), emphasising transparency, capacity building, and sustained political commitment.

"Many countries already do work that aligns with Article 2.1(c), like sustainable finance regulations or emission trading, but they don’t always label it as such. We need to better integrate these efforts."

- Ms Sarah Zuegel, Councillor for Economic Affairs at the German Embassy

Towards a Strategic African Narrative on Climate Finance

The dialogue coalesced around one resounding theme: Africa must not just participate in global finance debates. It must shape them. That means stepping into global spaces with a unified voice, backed by clarity of purpose. It also means leveraging Africa’s natural assets, its minerals, renewable energy, and young population, not just as bargaining tools but as strategic advantages.

Participants emphasised the importance of framing red lines on debt, on ownership, on sovereignty, and building regional platforms to articulate a shared narrative.

"This is not a begging system. We operate within multilateralism where every party brings value.”

- Mr Fredrick Ouma

What does success look like?

For this agenda to succeed, African countries must be recognised as co-architects of climate finance, not passive recipients. Success will mean finance that is predictable, equitable, and empowering. Finance that reflects justice and is delivered with country ownership at its core.

The outcomes from this dialogue will shape engagement with the UNFCCC Standing Committee on Finance, inform Africa’s Road to COP30, and guide SSN’s ongoing work in advancing equitable climate finance.

Photo: Day 2 – Participants share reflections during the networking break.

A Call for Strategic Positioning

The dialogue ended with a clear mandate: Africa must shift from the margins to the centre of global finance governance. This will require more than rhetoric. It will demand strategic coordination, clear priorities, and confident leadership.

Africa is not waiting to be included. It is ready to lead—and to define what a just, resilient, and climate-aligned global finance system looks like.

"Africa must move from the margins to the centre of global finance governance. This demands coordination, clear priorities, and bold leadership. Africa is ready to lead and define a just, resilient, climate-aligned finance system."

- Dr George Wamukoya, Team Leader of the African Group of Negotiators Expert Support (AGNES)

"African countries must shape, not just follow, global financial reform agendas."

- Dr Prabhat Upadhyaya

Photo: Ms Pemy Gasela, Chief Director, International Climate Change, DFFE, delivering closing reflections and way forward.

Photo: The AFF Team, left to right: Mr Samson Mbewe, Ms Aimée Tredoux, Ms Phatsimo Rahman, Ms Priyanka Ukabhai, Mr Brian Makundi, under the slopes of Table Mountain after the final day of the workshop.