Onuigbo Tells CCDA-XIV: Africa Must Move From Climate Pledges To Action

Rt. Hon. Sir Sam Onuigbo, President of GLOBE Legislators and sponsor of Nigeria’s Climate Change Act 2021, has called on Africa to embrace climate agency in shaping its own climate future, CDA News Nigeria reports.

Onuigbo delivered his keynote address at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the 14th Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-XIV), holding from September 7 to 9.

His presentation, titled “From Pledges to Implementation: African Agency and the Belém–Antalya–Addis Roadmap,” argued that Africa must move beyond merely participating in global climate negotiations to shaping the institutions, financing mechanisms and implementation pathways that determine its development future.

CDA News Nigeria gathered that Onuigbo drew inspiration from General Murtala Muhammed’s 1976 declaration that “the fortunes of Africa are in our hands to make or mar,” insisting the continent’s climate future must be built, financed and governed by Africans.

He noted that Africa possesses the people, resources, institutions, markets, ecosystems, minerals and renewable-energy potential needed to become a major contributor to global climate solutions, adding that climate agency means transforming those assets into resilience and prosperity.

Onuigbo also urged African countries to build strong climate institutions capable of outlasting speeches, conferences and changes in government.

The conference, themed “From Pledges to Implementation: The Belém–Antalya–Addis Roadmap,” was convened by the UN Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank and the African Union Commission ahead of COP31.