Africa’s Climate Adaptation Gap Ahead of COP31
By News

With COP31 due to open in Antalya, Türkiye, in November, African governments and civil society are stepping up calls for more and better climate adaptation finance. A new report from Power Shift Africa estimates that Africa needs almost USD 70 billion a year to adapt to climate change but received only about USD 14 billion in international adaptation finance, while Ghana has used the 2026 IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings to argue that indebted countries should not lose access to climate funding after restructuring their debts.

The adaptation gap in numbers

As reported by the Mail & Guardian on 13 October, the Power Shift Africa report, A Just Transition for Adaptation: A Framework and Vision for Africa, finds that international public adaptation finance to developing countries fell from USD 28 billion in 2022 to USD 26 billion in 2023. It says African governments spend more of their own budgets on adaptation than they receive internationally, and it calls for adaptation finance to be predictable, additional, accessible and grant-based, with debt relief recognised as an adaptation measure.

“What our communities are living through is not simply loss and damage but failed adaptation,” said Mohamed Adow, executive director of Power Shift Africa, quoted by the Mail & Guardian.

Estimates of the gap vary depending on methodology. The African Development Bank’s 2026 Annual Development Effectiveness Review, cited by African Sustainability Matters, puts Africa’s overall climate financing gap at more than USD 213 billion a year through 2030 and says adaptation finance reached about USD 25 billion, roughly a fifth of requirements. Kenyan President William Ruto said in New York in September that the annual adaptation finance shortfall facing African countries was between USD 200 billion and USD 400 billion, according to the same publication.

Debt and climate: Ghana’s case

Speaking at the Vulnerable Twenty (V20) ministerial dialogue in Bangkok, held alongside the 2026 IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings, Ghana’s Minister of State for Climate Change and Sustainability, Seidu Issifu, argued that countries undertaking fiscal reform should not face continued restrictions on concessional finance or unfavourable credit assessments, African Sustainability Matters reported on 19 October. Ghana faces an estimated USD 9.3 billion requirement for climate mitigation and adaptation.

His proposals included debt-for-resilience conversions, climate-resilient debt clauses in new lending, more transparent sovereign credit ratings and support for a proposed V20 Fund. He also urged a doubling of V20 direct-access entities accredited to the Green Climate Fund by 2027. The Mail & Guardian notes that nearly 60% of Africans live in countries that spend more on debt service than on health and education.

Money moving to projects

Some concessional finance is moving towards implementation. The African Development Fund’s Climate Action Window, created under the Fund’s 16th replenishment, held project-readiness workshops in Nairobi and Pretoria in August and September. According to the AfDB, the technical assistance portfolios are expected to help unlock about USD 407 million in East Africa and USD 225 million in Southern Africa, as part of 67 technical assistance projects selected across the continent. “Our goal is to get all projects through the approval process before the end of 2026,” said Dr James Kinyangi, the Window’s coordinator.

The AfDB cites WMO data showing 2024 cereal yields in Zambia and Zimbabwe at 43% and 50% below the five-year average, and a WFP analysis warning that more than 18 million people in East and Southern Africa could see their food security deteriorate as El Niño strengthens into 2027.

What this means for NGO job seekers

Whatever is agreed at COP31, the shift towards direct access, locally led adaptation and project-ready pipelines is creating demand for practical climate finance and programme skills in African organisations. Roles to watch include:

  • Climate finance and proposal development specialists, especially those familiar with the Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund and multilateral development bank processes.
  • Monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) officers able to measure resilience outcomes.
  • Climate-smart agriculture, water resources and disaster risk reduction programme staff.
  • Policy and advocacy officers working on debt, climate justice and negotiations.
  • Environmental and social safeguards specialists for donor-funded projects.

Practical advice: build familiarity with accreditation and project appraisal requirements, learn to write a strong climate rationale, and show results from past resilience or livelihoods projects. Short courses in climate finance or MEL can help career changers move into this growing field.

Browse climate and development roles on our jobs board, explore NGO jobs in Ghana, NGO jobs in Kenya and NGO jobs in South Africa, or search NGO jobs by country. For applications advice, visit our career resources.

Sources