Ethiopia: How Ethiopia Can Make COP32 the Summit That Actually Delivers

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying analysis from The Conversation Africa by Lisa Sachs, reports that Ethiopia is set to host COP32 in Addis Ababa in late 2027, with its presidency held on behalf of the African Union. The article frames the summit as the first African-hosted UN climate conference in five years and argues that Ethiopia and the AU should start preparations now if the meeting is to produce practical results rather than only negotiated declarations.

The analysis says COP32 could be used to present African-led climate and development solutions for endorsement and financing by willing partners. It identifies priorities including integrated regional energy systems, cheaper climate finance through improved risk assessment, resilient food systems and large-scale nature restoration. Sachs, writing from the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, argues that these areas require coalitions involving governments, financiers, multilateral lenders and technical institutions with the ability to implement plans.

The piece places this argument in the wider context of the UN climate process. It notes that the Conference of the Parties brings 198 parties to the UN climate convention together and has produced major outcomes such as the Paris Agreement, the Loss and Damage Fund and the Global Stocktake. For Africa, the article says, the COP process remains important because it gives adaptation, finance, and loss-and-damage concerns a formal place alongside the priorities of wealthier and higher-emitting economies.

However, the analysis argues that past COPs have been constrained by national pledge-based systems, compromise-driven negotiations and the absence of key financial, trade and energy institutions from the core process. It suggests Ethiopia can make COP32 more consequential by building regional, technically grounded plans before leaders arrive in Addis Ababa.