By Albert Oppong-Ansah, GNA
Accra, Feb. 2, GNA – The African Union Commission (AUC) says it is intensifying efforts to scale up youth- and women-led climate innovations as part of a broader strategy to strengthen the continent’s response to climate change.
The innovations, identified under the Africa Climate Action Innovation Hub, span key sectors including climate-smart agriculture, water access, renewable energy, waste-to-energy solutions, and climate-resilient infrastructure, with many emerging from grassroots communities across the continent.
Already, development partners and financial institution including the AFRI Exim Bank have signalled their readiness to fund climate projects.
Dr Samuel Ogallah, the Climate Change Coordinator at the AUC, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview at the weekend that the Innovation Hub received more than 4,000 applications from young people and women across Africa, but only 80 innovations were selected due to resource constraints.
“The response was overwhelming. It shows that African youth and women are not short of solutions. What is missing is the support to scale them,” Dr Ogallah said.
He said the selected innovations demonstrated Africa’s capacity to generate home-grown, context-specific solutions to climate challenges, particularly in communities already experiencing the impacts of climate change.
“These are practical innovations responding directly to realities on the ground,” he added.
Dr Ogallah said the Commission was now working to link innovators with investors, development partners, and private sector actors to mobilise financing and expand the reach of viable solutions across the continent.
He said discussions were ongoing with African and international financial institutions, stressing that private sector partnerships were critical to moving climate innovations from pilot stages to large-scale implementation.
The Climate Change Coordinator noted that innovation remained central to Africa’s climate agenda, especially as the continent faced increasing climate impacts while contributing the least to global greenhouse gas emissions.
Supporting African-led innovation was key to building climate resilience, creating green jobs, and ensuring sustainable, locally appropriate solutions.
“The future of climate action in Africa depends on empowering our own innovators and ensuring their solutions reach the communities that need them most,” he said.
Dr Ogallah added that the AUC could not achieve that goal alone and called for stronger collaboration with governments, financiers, development partners, and the private sector to unlock funding and accelerate implementation.
Nana Dr Antwi Boasiako-Amoah, Chairman of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN), told the Ghana News Agency that youth engagement was one of his top priorities to guide Africa’s climate negotiations over the next two years.
“The AGN will remain a strong partner in initiatives that prepare young Africans to become the next generation of climate negotiators and leaders,” he said.
The Africa Climate Action Innovation Hub was launched as part of efforts to implement the African Union Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022–2032).
The strategy, the continent’s first comprehensive climate action framework, outlines priority actions to harmonise its response to climate change and strengthen cooperation among governments, civil society, and the private sector.
It emphasises inclusive participation and broad-based ownership as essential to achieving effective and sustainable climate action across Africa.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe