Second Press Statement for SB62

As the second week of the 62nd sessions of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies begin, African Civil Society Organisations—including grassroots movements, youth, women, Indigenous Peoples, faith communities, farmers, and frontline defenders—issue this statement to underscore our collective demands and concerns. We remind Parties, negotiators and observers that the success of SB62 must be measured by its responsiveness to the lived realities, vulnerabilities, and development priorities of African peoples, who continue to bear the brunt of a climate crisis they did not cause.

We reiterate that the climate emergency in Africa is a justice emergency Africa is facing a climate crisis of devastating proportions. Every year, climate impacts destroy homes, erase livelihoods, displace communities, and deepen cycles of poverty and inequality. According to the IPCC, Africa has already suffered annual losses of $7 billion due to climate change between 2010 and 2019. Under a high-emissions scenario, this could rise to $50 billion per year by 2040, wiping out up to 4% of Africa’s annual GDP growth.

Despite contributing the least to global emissions, African countries are forced to navigate these escalating crises with limited support, inadequate financing, and unjust systems. This is not only scientifically indefensible but also morally untenable. We are confronting a deepening injustice at the heart of the global response to climate change.

Despite the urgency to act to save lives and communities, we are outraged that SB62 reveals the same old patterns of delay, division, and denial.

The first week of SB62 has offered little hope for meaningful progress. Negotiations were delayed over the adoption of the agenda itself, a clear indication that developed countries continue to resist addressing the core issue of climate finance, particularly their obligations under Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement. This resistance is not procedural. It is political. It is a betrayal of the principles of equity and historical responsibility.

Stalling tactics, vague language, and voluntary pledges cannot be allowed to dominate the path to COP30 in Belém, Brazil. Africa cannot afford another cycle of negotiations that ignore its priorities or discount its suffering. Read more