The Paris Agreement represents a universal commitment to confronting climate change, endorsed by 194 nations. It includes a provision, Article 2.1(c), which stipulates that all signatories agree to “Making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate-resilient development.” To realise this objective, states are required to align their financial flows with investments in low-carbon assets. Furthermore, financial flows should be directed towards climate-resilient infrastructure and developmental initiatives.

In Africa, aligning financial flows with the Paris Agreement would benefit nations by:

1. Enhancing access to both international and domestic investments for low-carbon assets; and
2. Supporting the sustainable reduction of the substantial infrastructure deficit across the continent through the development of climate-resilient infrastructure.

The economies of multiple African nations presently rely on carbon-based resources, including coal, natural gas, or crude oil, as either their principal energy source or a significant contributor to national revenue, or both. This situation raises concerns that a sudden transition from carbon-intensive assets to low-carbon alternatives could introduce systemic risks by generating a substantial volume of stranded carbon assets. Such a shift could hinder the progress that numerous African countries have achieved toward fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This systemic risk can be alleviated through the development of robust, evidence-based policy options that facilitate the equitable transition of African financial resources towards assets and developmental initiatives supporting low greenhouse gas emissions and promoting climate-resilient development. Such a transition must consider Africa’s distinctive economic and developmental attributes.

Herein, the AFF programme aims to:

• Assess the volumes and sources of African financial flows that may be aligned with the Paris Agreement.
• Identify and analyse sectoral prospects for re-investing financial flows, while identifying opportunities to leverage existing funding of high-risk countries to attract sustainable/green financing for climate adaptation.
• Recommend specific short-to-medium term actions for decision-makers to support Africa in aligning financial flows to Article 2.1(c).

Through comprehensive economic and financial research coupled with stakeholder engagement, the AFF programme developed four pathway papers: three at the national level and one at the regional level. The national-level papers concentrate on the alignment of mitigation finance, illustrating specific case studies within Ethiopia, Mozambique, and South Africa. These nations serve as representatives of three clusters of countries engaged in knowledge exchange, sharing comparable energy and market characteristics. The regional pathway paper centres on adaptation finance, evaluating strategies to enhance the climate resilience of infrastructure investments across the African continent.

Technical Dialogues: Aligning Financial Flows with the Paris Agreement in Africa 

A crucial element of the project is knowledge brokering, which facilitates the convening, sharing, and exchange of emerging evidence from the target countries with a wider group of African nations that exhibit similar developmental trajectories. Consequently, in 2025, SSN, in collaboration with regional partners, organised two strategic dialogues in Cape Town to promote Africa’s climate finance agenda and reinforce regional positions in global negotiations. These dialogues offered a platform for African stakeholders to influence global and multilateral climate finance processes, enhance understanding of Article 2.1(c), scale and coordinate finance for adaptation and climate-resilient development, and examine pathways toward a just transition.

Dialogue 1: High-Level Technical Dialogues on Climate Finance in Africa

3–4 June 2025 | The Vineyard Hotel, Cape Town 

Co-convened by SSN and South Africa’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), this high-level dialogue brought together senior African negotiators, policymakers, climate fund representatives, development banks, and civil society leaders. Discussions focused on:

• Defining coordinated African priorities to translate global finance commitments, including  Article 2.1 (c) and the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG)’s Baku to Belém Roadmap, into tangible outcomes.
• Examining the implications of Article 2.1(c) of the Paris Agreement for Africa alongside Article 9, ensuring finance flows align with Africa’s development and climate priorities.
• Identifying strategies to strengthen domestic financial systems, mobilise concessional finance, and advance just transitions.
• Addressing systemic challenges such as fiscal constraints, debt burdens, fragmented access to international finance, and inconsistent reporting requirements that limit transformative climate action.

Further details about Dialogue 1 can be found in this Photo Story.

Dialogue 2: Technical Dialogue on Article 2.1(c) of the Paris Agreement

1–2 October 2025 | President Hotel, Cape Town 

This expert-led workshop on Article 2.1(c) of the Paris Agreement, convened by SSN with regional partners,  brought together African policymakers, development finance institutions, researchers, civil society representatives, and private sector actors to:

• Consolidate African perspectives on operationalising Article 2.1(c) and its complementarity with Article 9, ensuring alignment does not shift focus from predictable, concessional, and grant-based finance.
• Build on outcomes from the Sharm el-Sheikh Dialogue of Article 2.1(c), the second Africa Climate Summit, and global processes such as the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) and the Baku to Belém Roadmap.
• Align finance flows with updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and just transition strategies to shape Africa’s priorities ahead of COP30.
• Strengthen regional coordination, deepen multistakeholder collaboration, and support Africa in translating climate ambition into bankable finance strategies while safeguarding equity, development sovereignty, and resilience.

The dialogue reinforced Africa’s ability to influence global climate finance processes, ensure coherent domestic planning, and advance climate-resilient development pathways.

Further details about Dialogue 2 can be found in the Workshop Report here.

The AFF programme falls under the auspices of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) funding window of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).