Africa Climate Summit’s Faith Statement Calls for Urgent Climate Action Rooted in Justice and Equity
The Africa Faith Actors Network for Climate Justice (AFAN-CJ), in collaboration with ACT Alliance, Ethiopian Orthodox Church Development and Inter-Church Aid Commission (EOC-DICAC), Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia, and the Consortium of Climate Change Ethiopia, released their pre-African Climate Summit-2 statement on 7th September 2025 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The statement was directly informed by the African faith actors' consultative meetings held from July to September 2025 in preparation for the Africa Climate Summit-2. The statement calls for urgent, fair, and inclusive climate action rooted in justice, equity, peace, and care for creation.
Faith leaders reiterated that “We authenticate that creation is entrusted to humanity as a sacred responsibility, as affirmed in the Bible “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15) and in the Qur’an, which teaches that humanity is appointed as khalifah (stewards) on earth (Qur’an 2:30). These shared foundations compel us, as people of faith, to protect the integrity of creation, defend the vulnerable, and pursue justice in responding to the climate crisis”.
Specific calls in the statement include:
Peace for Climate Justice: Faith actors call for the integration of peacebuilding in climate action, thereby breaking the cycle of fragility in Africa, demonstrating that peace and climate justice are inseparable.
Debt Cancellation as a Path to Climate Justice: Faith leaders call on global leaders, international financial institutions, and private lenders to embrace a new Jubilee, cancelling unjust debts so that African nations can redirect their resources toward protecting creation, building resilience, and supporting the most vulnerable. The faith actors further call upon African governments to exercise greater and responsible financial management in developing and deploying financial policies to manage and avert debt distress.
Climate Finance: Delivering overdue, grant-based finance for adaptation, loss and damage, and community-led solutions.
Emission Reduction & Just Energy Transition: Major emitters are called upon to commit to ambitious emission cuts. A just and inclusive energy transition that creates jobs, protects workers, and expands clean energy access should be promoted in Africa.
Food Sovereignty & Creation Care: Faith actors call for the protection and scaling up of indigenous and faith-rooted practices that sustain food systems, biodiversity, and resilience.
Tackling the Adaptation Gap: Faith actors call for the closure of Africa’s adaptation finance gap through grant-based funding and not loans that further increase the continent’s debt.
Advancing Loss & Damage Efforts: The faith actors call for the unlocking of finance and institutional support for African countries to access the Loss and Damage Fund equitably.
Youth, Women, People with Disabilities & Interfaith Solidarity: Ensuring that marginalized groups are at the centre of climate solutions, leadership, and decision-making.
In the photo: Faith actors at the Africa Climate Summit-2 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. [Courtesy - Dr. Tinashe Gumbo]
