Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, center, and Kenyan President William Ruto, left, walk with other African heads of state and government representatives ahead of the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Dancers perform during the opening of the High-Level Leaders Summit at the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) at the Addis International Convention Center (AICC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
African heads of state and government representatives walk into the plenary hall for the opening of the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, center, and Kenyan President William Ruto, left, walk with other African heads of state and government representatives ahead of the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
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Dancers perform during the opening of the High-Level Leaders Summit at the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) at the Addis International Convention Center (AICC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
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Artists walk on stilts during the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, September 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
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African heads of state and government representatives walk into the plenary hall for the opening of the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — African leaders met Monday in the Ethiopian capital for the second Africa Climate Summit, where they proposed a new way of thinking about climate adaptation funding and called for the continent to be viewed not as a victim, but as an investment opportunity.
With a population of more than one billion, African countries have been hit hardest by climate disasters such as and , which have made millions of people vulnerable. In 2023, at the inaugural summit in Kenya, African leaders made ambitious plans to increase renewable energy, but funding constraints have slowed implementation.
This year’s summit aims to unlock climate financing and accelerate Africa-led solutions and adaptation.
It is “time to replace climate aid with climate investment," said during the summit's opening ceremony, which was attended by heads of state from African nations as well as business leaders, climate scientists, activists and other stakeholders.
Amos Wemanya, a climate action campaigner with Greenpeace Africa, said the climate adaptation funding gap can be met by taxing polluters.
"We need to tax the polluters and the super-rich to generate the resources needed to make them pay for the climate plunder they are causing the continent,†he said.
Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, the chairperson of the African Union — a continental body of 55 member states and a co-host of the summit — proposed a framework of “climate justice†to help vulnerable countries grappling with the dual challenges of and debt.
Ethiopia, the host of this year's summit, will inaugurate the along the Blue Nile on Tuesday. It is expected to produce more than 5,000 megawatts, doubling Ethiopia’s current output, part of which will be exported to neighboring countries.
In July, the country launched a national campaign as part of an ambitious conservation initiative that aims to plant 50 billion trees by 2026.
