The convening reaffirmed Africa’s disproportionate vulnerability to climate impacts despite contributing the least to global emissions, underscoring the continent’s moral authority and right to climate justice. Participants emphasised the importance of anchoring Africa’s engagement at Belém within the continent’s established negotiation structures, including the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), Africa Climate Summit 2, and the Africa Group of Negotiators (AGN), while recognising the complementary role of civil society ingrounding these processes in justice, inclusion, equity, and community realities.

The convening called for Africa to speak in one strong, coordinated voice, moving from advocacy to influence, from isolated projects to systemic resilience, and from framing climate change as an environmental concern to advancing it as a core development imperative. Delegates affirmed that COP30 must be the moment Africa shifts from negotiating frameworks to delivering tangible results for its people.

Download the position paper here: https://can-africa.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Africa-CSOs_COP30-Position-Paper.pdf

In Morocco, the youth-led Gen Z 212 movement has ignited one of the largest waves of mobilisation in recent memory, with over 2,400 people charged, at least 1,473 people remaining in custody awaiting trial, and three confirmed deaths following weeks of nationwide protests. In Madagascar, demonstrations sparked by chronic economic hardship, blackouts, and governance failures have resulted in at least 22 deaths and more than 100 injuries, marking the most severe civic unrest in years. In Cameroon, post-election protests have turned deadly, leaving four people killed in Douala and several others injured, amid a climate of fear, arbitrary detentions, and rising frustration over political exclusion.

Tanzania, however, now faces a tragedy of far greater scale. Following the 29 October 2025 general elections and mounting repression, mass demonstrations erupted across major cities, including Dar es Salaam and Mwanza, after opposition parties denounced electoral irregularities and intimidation. Reports indicate that around 1000 people have been killed in just a few days of unrest, while the United Nations Human Rights Office has confirmed credible evidence of at least 10 deaths, with hundreds injured and an unknown number detained. The deployment of the military, a nationwide curfew, and internet shutdowns have deepened the crisis and silenced communities at a time when dialogue is most needed. This devastating loss of life is a stark reminder of the dangers of state overreach and the urgent need to protect civic freedoms.  As protests rage on across borders, Malawi now faces a triple shock: looming fuel shortages, disrupted trade, and mounting business losses. What began as a political crisis in Tanzania is fast becoming an economic storm for its southern neighbours.

African civil society organizations across the continent, convened under the auspices of CAN Africa, unite in calling for all African governments to respond to these moments of crisis not with repression, but with reflection, accountability, and empathy. We urge independent investigations into all deaths, injuries, and detentions; the immediate restoration of civil liberties; and open engagement with citizens, youth, and civil society. The demands voiced in the streets are not threats to stability, they are calls for fairness, inclusion, and a new social contract built on trust and dignity.

We stand with all those across the continent who continue to raise their voices for justice and freedom, often at great personal risk. Africa’s future must be built on dialogue, compassion, and the protection of every citizen’s right to be heard.

Climate Action Network Africa
31 October 2025

Download file here.

In Sudan, multiple credible reports have confirmed that the conflict has descended into an unprecedented humanitarian and human rights catastrophe. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), at least 3,384 civilians were killed between January and June 2025, including nearly 990 summary executions, mostly in Darfur, Kordofan, and Khartoum. Around the city of El Fasher in North Darfur, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been accused by the United Nations, Le Monde, and the Sudan Tribune of committing widespread atrocities, including mass executions, sexual violence, and the burial of civilians alive. In one documented case, approximately 2,000 people were killed, many reportedly burned alive, and 87 bodies buried in a mass grave. The OHCHR described these acts as “appalling reports of summary executions and other serious violations” that may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity.

In the DRC’s eastern provinces, the scale and brutality of conflict-related violence are staggering. An estimated 17,000 victims of sexual violence were treated over five months in 2024, and in January–February 2025, a child was raped approximately every half-hour amid escalating warfare. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has documented mass killings, including summary executions and attacks on civilians in battle-zones where multiple armed groups operate with impunity. These horrors reflect deep-seated failures in governance, protection and accountability.

We call on all the African governments, the African Union, the United Nations, including the United Nations Women, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), international humanitarian agencies and civil society partners to respond with urgency, compassion and accountability. Each moment of delay deepens the suffering of civilians, women and children, caught in conflicts not of their making. We demand transparent, independent investigations into all killings, rapes and mass abuses; immediate humanitarian access for displaced populations; restoration of civic freedoms, including expression and assembly; and meaningful participation of affected communities in rebuilding efforts.

Across Africa, when protest turns to brutal crack-downs, when hospitals are shelled and children are attacked, silence becomes complicity. CAN Africa stands with every individual and every community who continues to demand dignity, justice and the protection of human rights. In these darkest moments, our solidarity must translate into action, our empathy into accountability, and our voice into reform.

Climate Action Network Africa
Date: 31/10/2025

Download file here.

On the 7th September 2025, the Africa Peoples’ Assembly on the margins of the 2nd Africa Climate Summit, led by Climate Action Network (CAN) Africa, the International Trade Union Confederation Africa (ITUC-Africa), and the Africa Movement of Movements, convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

We, the peoples of Africa, including social movements and civil society, trade unions, women, youth, people with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, grassroots communities, farmers, faith-based groups, media, and academia, gathered to commit to this Declaration on Africa’s climate and development priorities and demands.

This Peoples’ Assembly was a space of collective power, where African voices defined what justice, sovereignty, and resilience must mean for our continent. We reject the business-as-usual model that reduces Africa to a pawn in the agendas of others, whether through extractivism, debt traps, or false climate solutions imposed from outside.

This Declaration sets out what Africa must pursue, what we as peoples commit to fight for, and what we demand of our governments, regional bodies, and international institutions in spaces such as the Africa Climate Summit, or COP30 and beyond.

We recognise that if Africa does not plan and act for its own destiny, it will remain trapped in cycles of exploitation, resource theft, and recolonisation.

Download file: https://can-africa.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Africa-Peoples-Declaration-2025-Draft.pdf

Climate Action Network Africa (CAN Africa) extends its warmest congratulations to His Excellency João Lourenço, President of Angola, on assuming the Chairmanship of the African Union (AU). He succeeds H.E. Mohamed Cheikh El Ghazouani of Mauritania, who has led the Union since February 2024.

We also extend our congratulations to the newly elected leadership of the African Union Commission, including Chairperson H.E. Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, Deputy Chairperson Selma Haddadi, and the new Commissioners for the 2025-2028 term. Their election reflects the trust and confidence placed in their leadership by African Heads of State and Government, as well as the urgent expectation for bold, transformative policies that put people and the planet at the center of Africa’s development. 

CAN Africa looks forward to working closely with the African Union Commission under the leadership of His Excellency Mahamoud Ali Youssouf to advance Africa’s climate and development agenda. It is imperative that the Commission strengthens policies and commitments that uphold climate justice, build climate resilience, and secure a sustainable future for all Africans.

In the spirit of Pan-African solidarity, CAN Africa urges the new leadership to champion the voices of African communities most impacted by the climate crisis and to push for fair climate finance mechanisms that enable Africa’s transition to a green economy. We also take this opportunity to acknowledge the outgoing Chairperson for his efforts in steering the Commission and laying the groundwork for future climate-responsive policies.

We stand ready to engage, collaborate, and support the African Union Commission in realizing the vision of an integrated, peaceful, and climate-resilient Africa.

Dr. Wafa Misrar, Policy Lead at CAN Africa, stated: 

“The African Union Commission must lead in ensuring a just and inclusive transition that not only moves Africa away from fossil fuels but also prioritizes energy and food sovereignty, climate-resilient agriculture, and fair climate finance. This transition must be free from the burden of exploitative debt and empower smallholder farmers, local communities, and workers to drive sustainable solutions. The new leadership has the opportunity to enact policies that enable African nations to produce their own clean energy and food, reducing dependency on external actors and strengthening the continent’s resilience. We stand ready to support this vision and work towards a future that is both sustainable and just for all Africans.”

Aïssatou Diouf, CANWA Node coordinator said:

“The climate crisis and the other crises the continent is facing are converging and must be addressed together. The climate disasters the continent is experiencing require a predictable and collective response. The African Union Commission must support the continent in moving toward multidimensional transitions, particularly toward cleaner renewable energy sources for climate change mitigation and for strengthening the resilience of African communities. It is urgent for the African Union Commission to work with African countries on a credible, transparent, and just transition program that places people at the center.”

Arthur Larok, the Secretary General of ActionAid said:

“The new African Union leadership needs to vigorously pursue the reparations agenda – the continent is owed trillions of dollars in climate debt, slavery, and unfair global financial systems. African leaders must seize this moment and demand, with unwavering resolve, the payment of the $36 trillion in climate debt owed to the continent.

Beyond climate debt conversations, there is a need for comprehensive debt cancellation and the immediate establishment of a United Nations framework on debt to begin the process of undoing the crippling burden of foreign debt on African nations.”

Nnimmo Bassey, Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) said:

“The revelation by the outgoing Commissioner of Agriculture of the African Union (AU), Ambassador Josefa Sacko, about the meddlesomeness of philanthropic capitalists in African food systems is neither shocking nor surprising. We applaud her for the fight she put up while serving as commissioner and regret that the African Union could not muster a unified  stand against genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on the continent. It is a shame that some African governments are easily bought out by neocolonial entities that do not wish the continent to be food secure or to enjoy food sovereignty. It is high time for the AU to stand up in defence of our environment and Biosafety, and to reject the false and mythical arguments used to promote GMOs on the continent. It is known that these artificial crops are not necessarily more productive than their natural counterparts.

In the past the Organization for African Unity- OAU (now AU) had a strong Model Biosafety Law that was to be adopted by nations and adapted to meet their peculiar situations. Today we have a biosafety regime that has gradually turned Africans into guinea pigs for transgenic experimentations. The continent is also being exposed to harmful herbicides and pesticides including those banned in Europe and North America. 

While we welcome Ambassador Josefa Sacko’s denunciation of the situation, we call on the African Union to wake up to its responsibilities and fight to protect African biosafety and dance to the music of capitalist speculators who care nothing if our peoples and our environment.”

Kumi Naidoo, President, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative said:

“As Africa welcomes the new African Union leadership, it has the opportunity to invigorate efforts to address its most pressing challenges, key among them the climate crisis. This calls for concerted efforts to address the growing threat posed by fossil fuels, to frontline communities, while accelerating the continent’s shift to renewable-powered energy sovereignty. This should include advancing the proposal for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, to foster an equitable phase-out of fossil fuels as well as the financial and technological support Africa needs to transition to renewable energy. It’s time for African nations to unite in advocating for a fair and financed transition to secure a sustainable future for all.” 

Dean Bhebhe, Senior Just Transitions and  Campaign Advisor, Power Shift Africa said:

“The new AUC Chair takes office at a defining moment for Africa. With a G20 seat and Djibouti’s bold commitment to 100% renewables by 2035, the continent has a historic opportunity to lead in towards a green industrialization framework to meet the regions developmental needs while tackling the ongoing climate collapse. But to truly transform, Africa must break free from outdated economic and energy models like fossil gas and nuclear energy that deepen dependency. A genuine African renaissance demands leadership rooted in our histories, resources, and people’s aspirations. Agenda 2063 must be more than rhetoric, it must drive a just, green transition that prioritizes ‘well-being over-extraction’. This century must be Africa’s century, shaped by our own vision of progress.”

For media inquiries, please contact:
Wafa Misrar
wafa@can-africa.org
+212 654 142 906

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Télécharger la déclaration: https://can-africa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Declaration-conjointe-de-la-Caravane-africaine_VF_FR.pdf