{"id":10815,"date":"2026-11-05T20:19:13","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T20:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/powershiftafrica.org\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=10815"},"modified":"2026-11-05T20:52:57","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T20:52:57","slug":"adaptation-sovereignty","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/powershiftafrica.org\/fr\/event\/adaptation-sovereignty\/","title":{"rendered":"Adaptation Sovereignty: Financing a Just Transition for Adaptation in Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Theme:\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This side event will openly interrogate Africa\u2019s vulnerability to climate change, explore the multiple facets of vulnerability, causes and how best to address them in a just, inclusive and equitable way; ensuring that humanity, livelihoods and ecosystems are safe. It advances the urgent need for adaptive responses, low emissions, and sustainable development that delivers a resilient and prosperous planet for all. It recognizes that climate adaptation requires more than just technical fixes but must importantly drive systemic transformation that is anchored on justice including\u00a0\u00a0 recognitional, procedural, distributive and restorative justice to advance African-led pathways, knowledge equity and grant-based finance for climate adaptation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rationale\/Background:<\/span><\/b>
\nThe vulnerability of African societies to climate change is structurally produced and perpetuated. The continent’s climate vulnerability is reproduced by a longstanding system that extracts, exploits, and excludes. It is the cumulative result of colonial legacy, persistent export dependency, and rising sovereign debt with forty-five of Africa’s 54 countries remaining heavily dependent on low value added or raw agricultural and extractive exports. The current rush for strategic minerals in Africa further drives the continent’s dependency and extraction. Instead of the minerals becoming levers for Africa’s prosperity, their supply chain is already captured by multinational corporations that extract and export them in raw form denying local communities’ green jobs and economic prosperity while also exposing them to unchecked environmental pollution, unsafe working conditions, land dispossession, and limited economic benefits.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Financing critical sectors for climate adaptation including agriculture, water infrastructure, ecosystems, health, culture and heritage in Africa continue to suffer under the weight of sovereign debt burden estimated at roughly USD 746 billion. Already, nearly 60% of Africans live in countries that spend more on debt servicing than on health or education.\u00a0 Although Africa requires around USD 70 billion each year for adaptation, only about USD 14 billion is currently provided, with 58% of that financing delivered as loans. This creates an adaptation investment trap, where each climate disaster increases debt burdens, leaving countries less prepared for and unable to withstand future climate shocks. These imbalances also extend to climate knowledge and participation. Around 78% of funding for Africa-focused climate research is channeled to institutions in the Global North, while only 14.5% reaches African institutions.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Just Transition must fundamentally shift from an overfocus on technical adjustments toward transformation of the systems, finance and knowledge hierarchies that produce risk, inequality and vulnerabilities in the first place.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Objectives:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n