WWF Africa demands climate action, not more promises at COP31 1

🔦 Navigate COP31 unmissable events with our Insider's Guide

illuminem summarises for you the essential news of the day, reviewed by our editorial team. Read the full piece on WWF or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: WWF Africa is urging COP31 leaders to move beyond climate pledges and deliver tangible progress on adaptation finance, climate justice, forest protection and a just energy transition
• Its policy position calls for predictable funding, stronger community rights and implementation-focused partnerships to benefit African people and ecosystems

🔭 The context: Africa receives approximately 2% of global climate finance despite facing increasingly severe floods, droughts and extreme heat
• Developing countries need an estimated $365 billion annually for adaptation, while international public adaptation finance reached just $26 billion in 2023
• WWF advocates milestones towards tripling adaptation finance by 2035, prioritizing grants, concessional funding and locally led initiatives

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Africa's critical minerals could support global decarbonization, but extraction must protect biodiversity, forests and communities
• In the Congo Basin, WWF is also calling for financial recognition of countries and Indigenous communities that preserve standing forests, alongside stronger land rights and direct access to conservation finance

⏭️ What’s next: WWF Africa is pressing COP31 negotiations to deliver measurable outcomes on adaptation funding, renewable energy access, green jobs and forest conservation
• Its priorities include equitable mineral development, meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, and finance that reaches communities directly

💬 One quote: “Critical minerals are Africa’s opportunity to power a just energy transition, but only if their development protects nature and delivers equitable benefits for people,” - Eugene Nforngwa, Director of Programs Africa, Africa Coalition for Sustainable Energy Access

📈 One stat: Africa receives only approximately 2% of global climate finance, despite its growing exposure to climate impacts

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