PAP Urges Stronger Parliamentary Leadership to Advance Africa’s Climate Agenda

PAP First Vice-President Dr. Ashebir Gayo calls for stronger laws, oversight and climate finance to advance Africa’s climate agenda ahead of COP31.

The Pan-African Parliament has called for African legislatures to assume a more decisive role in transforming climate commitments into enforceable laws, adequately funded programmes and measurable improvements in the lives of citizens.

Hon. Dr. Ashebir Gayo, First Vice-President of the Pan-African Parliament, made the call during the Fourteenth Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 7 to 9 September 2026.

Addressing a session titled “From Climate Priorities to Climate Agency: What Would Africa’s Climate Leadership in Global Climate Governance Actually Mean?” on 7 September, Dr. Gayo argued that Africa’s climate ambitions would remain largely aspirational unless national and regional parliaments translated them into legislation, budgets, programmes and effective oversight.

His intervention placed parliamentary leadership at the centre of the continent’s transition from climate pledges to implementation.

“Africa should move beyond participation in global climate processes towards greater climate agency,” the First Vice-President said, emphasizing the need for the continent to develop and advance solutions reflecting its particular circumstances, priorities and development aspirations.

From participation to climate agency

Dr. Gayo’s call reflects growing concern that Africa, despite being acutely vulnerable to climate change, has not always exercised influence in global climate governance commensurate with the scale of the consequences it faces.

Climate agency requires more than African representation at international conferences. It means developing common positions, originating policy solutions, negotiating from clearly defined continental priorities and building the domestic institutions required to implement international commitments.

For parliaments, the transition from participation to agency involves scrutinizing nationally determined contributions and climate strategies, passing appropriate legislation, approving budgets, monitoring expenditure and holding governments accountable for agreed targets.

It also requires legislators to ensure that climate policies respond to the needs of communities most exposed to drought, flooding, desertification, food insecurity, displacement and other climate-related pressures.

The conference was convened under the theme “From Pledges to Implementation: The Belém–Antalya–Addis Roadmap.” According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the meeting was expected to contribute to a COP31 strategic framework, an options paper on a possible African COP32 presidency and a unified African position.

The discussions are particularly significant as countries prepare for COP31, scheduled to take place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026.

PAP Model Law on Climate Change

Dr. Gayo identified the PAP Model Law on Climate Change as one of the Parliament’s principal contributions to strengthening climate governance across Africa.

The initiative seeks to provide African Union Member States with an adaptable legislative framework through which regional and international climate commitments can be incorporated into national law.

Rather than prescribing an identical legal regime for every country, a model law provides common principles and minimum standards that can be adapted to different constitutional systems, legal traditions and development circumstances.

The proposed framework covers:

• Climate governance, institutions and planning;
• Mitigation of greenhouse-gas emissions;
• Adaptation and resilience;
• Loss and damage;
• Climate finance;
• Climate-induced displacement;
• Carbon markets;
• Climate information and data governance;
• Regional cooperation;
• Compliance and enforcement;
• Access to justice; and
• Public participation.

In June 2023, the PAP formally approved the proposal for the Model Law and mandated its Committee on Rural Economy, Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources to lead its formulation, taking Africa’s diverse legal traditions into account.

A technical consultation convened in Djibouti in December 2025 subsequently worked on the scope, structure and substantive provisions of the draft law. PAP described the initiative as a strategic instrument for strengthening Africa’s negotiating position and promoting more harmonized climate governance across AU Member States.

The breadth of the proposed legislation recognizes that climate governance extends beyond ministries of environment. It affects economic planning, agriculture, energy, trade, infrastructure, migration, public health and the protection of human rights.

Connecting climate resilience with food, soil and water security

The First Vice-President warned against treating climate action as a separate or purely environmental policy area. Instead, he called for climate measures to be integrated into Africa’s broader development agenda.

He cited the PAP Model Law on Food and Nutrition Security in Africa, adopted in 2022, and the Model Law on Sustainable Soil Management in Africa as complementary instruments supporting resilient food systems, sustainable agriculture, soil conservation, biodiversity, livelihoods and climate adaptation.

The relationship between these areas is immediate and practical. Degraded soils reduce agricultural productivity and water retention. Changing rainfall patterns threaten food production. Droughts and floods destroy livelihoods, while food insecurity can contribute to displacement, social tension and economic instability.

Climate resilience must therefore be addressed alongside food systems, land administration, water management, biodiversity and the sustainable use of natural resources.

PAP’s Committee on Rural Economy, Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources has previously linked the proposed soil-management framework with food security, climate mitigation, access to finance, local enforcement and the recognition of relevant traditional practices.

Climate finance must be accessible and predictable

Dr. Gayo also stressed that the effectiveness of Africa’s climate policies will depend on accessible, affordable and predictable finance.

Many African countries face substantial adaptation costs while contending with high debt burdens, limited fiscal space and competing development needs. Funding that is difficult to access, unpredictable or predominantly loan-based can deepen economic vulnerability instead of strengthening resilience.

African parliaments therefore have an important role in scrutinizing the terms, allocation and use of climate finance. This includes demanding transparency in climate funds, monitoring expenditure, preventing the diversion of resources and ensuring that financing reaches vulnerable communities.

Legislatures must also examine whether national budgets reflect declared climate priorities. A government’s climate commitment cannot be measured only by speeches at international conferences; it must be visible in appropriations, sectoral plans, public procurement and implementation reports.

Oversight and accountability remain indispensable

Dr. Gayo emphasized the importance of effective institutions, parliamentary oversight and accountability.

Passing legislation is only the beginning. Parliamentarians must ensure that climate institutions have clear mandates, adequate resources and transparent reporting obligations. They must also monitor whether public agencies comply with statutory targets and whether promised projects produce measurable results.

Effective climate legislation should provide citizens and communities with opportunities to participate in decisions that affect them. It should also establish mechanisms through which those adversely affected by environmental harm or governmental inaction can seek remedies.

The inclusion of access to justice, compliance and public participation in the proposed PAP Model Law is consequently important. It recognizes that climate governance is not only a matter of scientific targets or executive policy but also one of rights, accountability and democratic participation.

Building parliamentary cooperation ahead of COP31

The First Vice-President called for stronger cooperation among African legislatures and international parliamentary networks.

Such cooperation could facilitate the exchange of legislative experience and support practical solutions in climate finance, resilient infrastructure, clean energy, agricultural transformation, natural-resource governance and economic resilience.

It could also strengthen coordination between national parliaments and the Pan-African Parliament, enabling African legislators to advance more coherent positions in international climate discussions.

The PAP delegation to the Addis Ababa conference included Hon. Abdallah Barkat, a member of the Committee on Rural Economy, Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources, as well as technical officials from the PAP Secretariat.

The Fourteenth Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa brought together policymakers, climate negotiators, parliamentarians, development partners, experts and other stakeholders. It was organized by the Climate for Development in Africa Programme of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

As Africa prepares for COP31, the central message from the Pan-African Parliament is clear: climate leadership cannot be exercised exclusively through international negotiations. It must also be demonstrated in national laws, credible budgets, responsive institutions and sustained parliamentary oversight.

Africa’s transition from climate pledges to implementation will ultimately depend on whether its political institutions can convert continental ambitions into enforceable obligations and tangible results for its people.