Urges Caution on Carbon Markets & Debt Swaps
By Emma Black
The second Africa Climate Summit concluded with a declaration that has received a mixed response from ActionAid, September 12, 2025 a global federation committed to fighting poverty and injustice. While the organization welcomes the summit’s calls for debt cancellation, increased climate finance in the form of grants rather than loans, and a unified African stance for COP30, it has raised serious concerns about the promotion of carbon markets and debt swaps as climate solutions.
The summit, held in Addis Ababa, emphasized equity, climate justice, and social inclusion in climate interventions. However, ActionAid warns that expanding carbon offsets and debt swaps could distract from the long-term, systemic reforms needed to address the financial burden of climate adaptation for Africa’s frontline communities.
Emmaqulate Kemunto, ActionAid International’s Africa Regional Campaigner, highlighted the summit’s positives, stating, there are clear calls for debt cancellation and the need for grants, not loans, in climate finance. However, it is worrying that the roots of carbon markets are getting deeper on the continent. A recent ActionAid USA report, Caution Required: Protecting Communities from Carbon Markets, revealed that carbon markets fail to reduce emissions and offer minimal benefits to local communities. In Kenya, for instance, only 2% of project revenue reaches community conservancies, with the majority siphoned off by middlemen, certifiers, and foreign companies.
Kemunto urged African leaders to reject these mechanisms, calling them short-term distractions from viable climate solutions. She emphasized the need for genuine, sustainable strategies to address the crisis.
The declaration also committed to implementing the Kampala Declaration on Agriculture, supporting smallholder farmers especially youth and women in adopting sustainable practices. ActionAid praised this focus but called for action beyond rhetoric. Nigus Simane, Interim Country Director at ActionAid Ethiopia, said, Governments must put their money where their mouths are and increase public financing of agroecology, embedding it in national policies.
As COP30 approaches in Brazil, the summit’s message of solidarity and a unified African negotiating position was hailed as a bold step forward. Bavon Christopher, Country Director at ActionAid Tanzania, stressed, Gone are the days of rich, polluting countries and corporates ignoring the crisis they created. At COP30, African negotiators must demand adequate climate financing for a just transition that prioritizes the needs and rights of African people.
ActionAid remains available for further commentary, with spokespeople including Sheila Apiny (Regional Roving Climate Justice Advisor), Emmaqulate Kemunto, Bavon Christopher, and Nigus Simane. For media inquiries,
ActionAid is a global federation working for a world free from poverty and injustice, striving for social justice, gender equality, and the eradication of poverty to ensure everyone enjoys a life of dignity.
Copyright –Published in Expo Times News on Monday, 16th September, 2025 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
