OUR PRIORITIES AT AFRICA CLIMATE WEEK

In 2025, the UNFCCC relaunched Regional Climate Weeks with a consolidated approach, reducing the number to two events a year. The first of 2025 was held in Panama in May.

The timing is particularly significant as Ethiopia will host the Second African Climate Summit immediately following Climate Week, from September 8 to 10. The African Climate Summit expects to bring together more than 45 African heads of state. This convergence creates an opportunity to showcase African climate leadership while ensuring gender-environment data informs inclusive climate policies.

OUR GOALS THROUGHOUT CLIMATE WEEK AND THE AFRICAN CLIMATE SUMMIT:

1. Collaborating with allies to showcase and amplify gender-just narratives and solutions: This will include convening a “Friends of Gender” meeting immediately after ACW, gathering members of the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC) and allied governments to explore opportunities and strategies for advancing an ambitious Gender Action Plan (GAP) at COP30. We will also be engaging in the second Gender Action Plan development workshop, as leads of the Gender working group of the Women and Gender Constituency, while supporting the participation of fellow advocates in the Fourth dialogue under the UAE Just Transition Work Programme, mandated events on finance,  adaptation, etc.
2. Uniting GEDA-scale grant recipients, partners, and allies to foster innovation and collaboration: WEDO will leverage the Africa Climate Week platform to host a “Data Fellows Convening.“ By ensuring a GEDA presence at ACW, we hope to amplify the importance of data, specifically gender-environment data, in understanding and addressing climate and environmental challenges. We will also be showcasing GEDA members and their community-driven and locally-led initiatives as a means to not only fill gender-environment data gaps but use data for decision-making. Through our Small Grants Program and accompanying Data Fellowship, GEDA is facilitating the participation of individuals from organizations in Kenya, Ghana, Costa Rica, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. This will allow for greater cross-regional learning for a more inclusive and sustainable future.
3. Showcasing African women’s leadership, pushing for tangible proposals in the GAP, and positioning African feminist demands at the heart of Africa Climate Summit declaration and COP30 outcomes: The Africa Women and Gender Constituency will host a CSO Gender Day as a pre-event for the Africa Climate Summit titled “From Ground to Global: African Women’s Power in Climate Action”. This day hopes to both recognize that African women bear the heaviest burden of climate impacts while offering the transformative leadership, innovation, and local knowledge needed to build resilient futures.