An African COP27

COP27, the biggest global meeting on climate, starts in hours, and it’s happening in Africa.

That’s why African leaders have a huge responsibility to put African voices and demands at the forefront. On the one hand we must demand global polluters pay for the loss and damage we face in this crisis. But African leaders need to step up, show vision and take action if we are going to tackle this crisis for Africa and Africans.

That means committing to phase out fossil fuels, investing in renewables, creating jobs and pushing back against the new scramble for Africa – a scramble for oil and gas. We need to end the era of Africa being on the frontline of extraction and exploitation.

Will you sign the petition demanding African leaders take action for Africa and the climate now? I’ve listed our demands in full a little further down.

If African Heads of State are serious about taking climate action that serves our continent and people they will have this firmly in mind at COP27:

• Phase out coal in all African countries.
• Resist the new scramble for African oil and gas and commit to Net Zero by 2050.
• Ditch short-term, reckless investments in fossil fuels and get ahead of the game by investing in long-term renewable energy solutions, creating jobs and a cleaner future.
• End new industrial logging and agriculture in rainforests, and set targets to restore already degraded forests.
• Urge foreign governments to work with them to end illegal fishing and logging, directly support impacted local and Indigenous communities, and back a transition to renewable energy sources.
• Finally, African leaders must focus on building partnerships within the continent and beyond – over loans, grants and other forms of neocolonial aid.

Global polluters must pay for the continent’s loss and damage and the impacts of this crisis. But that does not mean that African leadership gets a free pass. They can’t simply hide behind the greed of foreign governments and corporations. They must take responsibility and tackle the extractive system head-on if we hope to tackle the climate crisis. We demand African Heads of State step up, show vision, and represent the interests of Africa and Africans.