As Africa prepares to convene in Addis Ababa for the second Africa Climate Summit (ACS) in
September 2025, the continent stands at a critical intersection. The dual threats of climate change
and socio-economic fragility continue to deepen inequalities, exacerbate conflict, and undermine
food security. Yet, the summit also presents an opportunity: to reimagine climate action that is
just, inclusive, and gender-responsive.
Climate change is no longer a distant threat, it is a present crisis. With Africa warming faster than
the global average and facing intensifying droughts, floods, and biodiversity loss, collective action
has never been more urgent. However, such action cannot be truly effective unless it reflects the
realities and contributions of all people: across genders, generations, and geographies.
Women, girls, men, boys, and gender-diverse groups experience climate impacts differently.
Yet women and marginalized gender groups, especially those from marginalized communities like
those in Arid and Semiarid Land (ASAL), often carry the heaviest burdens due to pre-existing
inequalities. At the same time, they remain largely invisible in decision-making spaces. The
upcoming summit offers a crucial chance to correct this imbalance.
Gender-responsive climate action is not just about inclusion, it is about transforming systems of
power. Across Africa, women and youth are frontline defenders of nature, food producers,
caregivers, and peacebuilders. Their knowledge and agency are vital to building climate-resilient
communities.
Findings from IDRC-supported study on the Endorois and Ilchamus communities in Kenya
show that women play critical, though often overlooked, roles in peace building amid climate-
induced conflict. Their contributions, ranging from faith-based mediation to youth mentorship,
demonstrate that women are not mere victims of climate crises: they are solution-makers.
A truly gender-responsive approach requires intentional strategies, including gender-
disaggregated data, dedicated resources, and meaningful representation in climate governance at
all levels.
Africa’s energy transition and climate ambition must not mirror historical injustices. Just
transition should prioritize those most affected by climate change, many of whom are women
and girls, ensuring access to clean energy, jobs, land, food security, education, and climate
finance.
At ACS 2023, African First Ladies emphasized women’s roles in this transition. However, their
recommendations failed to make it into the final Nairobi Declaration, which only briefly
mentioned women. The 2025 summit must do better by moving beyond rhetoric to integrate the underprivileged gender groups like women as leaders, not just beneficiaries. This requires policy tools like gender-responsive budgeting, project-level gender audits, and participatory frameworks that recognize women leadership in just transition, climate adaptation, and sustainable agriculture.
Speaking on gender responsive agricultural actions, Africa’s food systems are in crisis, and gender
is at the heart of it. Women produce over 60% of food on the continent, yet they have unequal
access to land, extension services, credit, and markets. Climate shocks only deepen these gaps.
Building food systems that are resilient, inclusive, and equitable means investing in gender-
responsive research, agro-ecology, and support systems that empower women as farmers,
entrepreneurs, and policymakers. It also means dismantling harmful gender norms that hinder
women’s full participation in the food economy.
Beyond the food and nutrition insecurity crisis, climate-induced conflict is increasing across
Africa, especially in resource-scarce regions. Droughts, migration, and competition for land and
water fuel tensions that often escalate into violence. Women, girls, boys, persons with disability,
and the elderly, suffer disproportionately from the resulting insecurity, displacement, and gender-
based violence.
Yet, as shown in the peace building processes among Kenya’s Ilchamus and Endorois
communities, women are also key to restoring peace and resilience. The Women, Peace, and
Security (WPS) framework must be integrated into climate action plans, recognizing women’s
agency and supporting their roles in community-led conflict resolution.
Conflict-sensitive climate programming must include women not as passive recipients, but as
peace builders and negotiators. This means funding and formalizing women-led early warning
systems, cross-border peace dialogues, and land tenure reforms.
Achieving all these will not be possible without gender responsive climate finance which has
remained severely limited despite global commitments like COPs and regional commtment like
Nairobi ACS declaration. Most climate funds do not prioritize gender equality in a structured
and progressive way.
The Addis Ababa summit should champion gender-tagged climate investments, establish funding
windows for women-led, youth-led, and PWD-led initiatives. The funding windows should
require gender integration in all financing frameworks. Africa can lead by example: showing the
world that climate finance without gender responsiveness is both ineffective and unjust.
The Africa Climate Summit 2025 must be a turning point. Building on the gaps of ACS 2023,
this year's summit should adopt a gender-transformative agenda that: explicitly integrates gender
equality into the summit declaration and outcomes; ensures women’s leadership in negotiations,
panels, and policy design; commits to gender-responsive finance, food systems, and just
transition frameworks; and promotes conflict sensitive climate action, and peacebuilding
strategies rooted in women’s lived experiences and Indigenous knowledge.
Climate action that ignores gender responses is incomplete and ineffective. As Africa rises to
meet the climate challenge, it must do so with all voices at the table. Gender intergration is not a
side issue; it is the key to a just, inclusive, and sustainable future.
About the Author: Salome Owuonda is the Executive Director, Africa Centre for Sustainable and Inclusive Development (Africa CSID