As the 2nd Africa Climate Summit convenes, Greenpeace Africa has issued a powerful call for the continent to lead global climate justice by enforcing polluter accountability and protecting its vast forests.
The environmental group is demanding binding financial mechanisms to fund climate solutions, positioning Africa as a moral leader in the fight against climate change.Dr. Oulie Keita, Executive Director of Greenpeace Africa, underscored the urgency of the moment: “Africa stands at a crossroads: either continue bearing the brutal costs of a crisis we did not create, or demand real justice.
The world cannot preach climate justice while Africans pay with their lives and livelihoods. Climate justice without financial justice is an empty promise. Those who profited from pollution must pay for the damage — not trap Africa in debt. At the Africa Climate Summit, we demand binding taxes, polluter-pays rules, and direct access to climate finance. With 40% of the world’s renewable resources and unparalleled indigenous wisdom, Africa can and must lead the way in proving that climate justice is not charity, but accountability.
”Greenpeace Africa’s Pan African Strategist, Koaile Monaheng, highlighted the economic dimension of climate justice, pointing to illicit financial flows: “Illicit financial flows bleed $89 billion yearly from Africa – enough to build climate-resilient futures. The UN Tax Convention must end tax havens shielding polluters, while ensuring mobilised revenues are ringfenced to support just transitions across our communities, fill in the gap in climate finance and phase out fossil fuels.
This isn’t charity; it’s restitution for ecological debt accumulated through exploitation.”Central to Greenpeace Africa’s demands is the creation of a binding international Polluter Pays Pact aimed at holding fossil fuel companies accountable for their outsized role in the climate crisis. With just 100 corporations responsible for 71% of global emissions since 1988, and more than 80% public support across 13 countries for polluter accountability, the Pact would require these companies to contribute to Adaptation and Loss and Damage Funds.
These funds are critical for frontline communities, especially in Africa, which bear the greatest burden of climate disasters.Amos Wemanya, Greenpeace Africa’s Responsive Lead, emphasized the human cost behind the statistics: “While families bury loved ones after climate-fueled extreme weather events like floods and tornadoes, fossil fuel giants celebrate record profits. A binding tax treaty must force these corporations to pay into Loss and Damage Funds. Our polling shows over 80% global support – politicians must stop protecting polluters and start protecting people.”Greenpeace Africa also stresses the importance of high-integrity forest solutions.
African forests, which store approximately 171.8 billion tonnes of carbon, are crucial for climate mitigation and are best managed by indigenous peoples and local communities. “Communities protect forests better than governments or carbon markets. Yet they receive pennies of climate finance. True forest solutions reject ‘degradation offsets’ and prioritize Indigenous rights,” Wemanya added.Together, the demands for tax justice, polluter accountability, and forest protection form a comprehensive blueprint Greenpeace Africa urges leaders to endorse at the summit. Without these three pillars, climate summits risk becoming performative theatre while Africa continues to suffer devastating climate impacts.“Real solutions demand systemic courage – starting here,” Greenpeace Africa concluded.
