From Pledges to Implementation: Delivering on Presidential Initiatives – Lessons for Africa on the Road to COP32
Opening Remarks
By
Claver Gatete
United Nations Under-Secretary-General and
Executive Secretary of ECA
Africa Pavilion, COP31 Antalya, Türkiye
10 November 2026
Excellencies,
Honourable Ministers,
Representatives of current and former COP Presidencies,
High-Level Climate Champions,
Distinguished panellists,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good afternoon.
It is a pleasure to welcome you to this discussion on moving from climate pledges to implementation, as we look ahead to COP32 in Ethiopia.
On behalf of the Economic Commission for Africa, I wish to thank the Government of Türkiye and the COP31 Presidency for their hospitality in hosting us here in Antalya.
At each COP, new climate initiatives are announced. Some make considerable progress. Others struggle to maintain momentum once the Presidency that launched them has handed over.
Meanwhile, across Africa, communities are facing increasingly severe climate impacts, often without adequate resources to respond.
At the same time the continent is warming at approximately 0.3 degrees Celsius per decade, and 2024 was among its warmest years on record.
And climate-related impacts are costing some African countries an average of 5 per cent of GDP, while some are diverting as much as 9 per cent of their national budgets to respond to extreme weather events.
Meanwhile, Africa needs an estimated US$277 billion annually to implement its nationally determined contributions through 2030. Yet current climate finance flows meet only about 11 per cent of that requirement.
High borrowing costs are already placing considerable pressure on our economies, consuming resources needed for essential services and development.
Climate financing must ease these pressures rather than deepen them, while supporting investment in resilience, energy access and economic growth.
Excellencies,
Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, nearly 500 cooperative climate initiatives have been launched, bringing together governments, international organizations, businesses, investors and civil society.
At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, the Presidency brought together work from more than 480 existing initiatives under its Global Climate Action Agenda. By June 2026, this effort had produced 120 Plans to Accelerate Solutions, providing a basis for better coordination and continuity.
However, a 2025 assessment by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water examined 203 cooperative climate initiatives and found that only 28 per cent had dedicated budgets.
The assessment also highlighted the importance of clear targets, institutional arrangements and monitoring mechanisms in supporting progress.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
For these initiatives to deliver lasting results, there are three things we must get right.
First, an initiative needs a home beyond the Presidency that launched it.
Political leadership can bring governments, institutions and investors together, but implementation often takes years. Without clear institutional ownership, even promising initiatives can lose momentum when leadership changes.
Second, commitments need financing.
Announcing an initiative is one thing; securing the resources to implement it is another. We must learn from initiatives that have successfully mobilized investment, worked with development finance institutions and helped countries prepare investment-ready projects.
Third, results must be visible.
Clear targets, realistic timelines and transparent reporting can help us measure progress, demonstrate what has been achieved and identify where additional support is needed. These arrangements should remain practical, particularly for countries with limited institutional capacity.
Taken together, these lessons point to the need for stronger coordination, less duplication and better use of available resources.
Excellencies,
COP31 offers an opportunity to apply these lessons.
The COP31 Presidency's Climate Implementation Bridge seeks to help countries translate climate and development commitments into projects capable of attracting financing. Ethiopia is among the initiative's first five pilot countries.
Ethiopia's participation can help strengthen project preparation and access to finance, while generating practical experience ahead of COP32 in Addis Ababa.
For Africa, climate investment must also support wider development priorities, including energy access, food security, resilient infrastructure, industrialization and jobs.
The Economic Commission for Africa will continue working with the African Union, member States and development partners to advance these priorities.
Distinguished panellists,
Your experience will help us understand what has worked, what has proved difficult and what future COP Presidencies can do differently.
As Ethiopia prepares to host COP32, we must put these lessons to work, strengthening the institutions, financing and partnerships needed to sustain climate initiatives and deliver results for African countries and communities.
I thank you, and look forward to a productive discussion.
