By Green Action Africa

Seven African countries are yet to submit revised plans against climate change to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in line with the Paris Agreement.

Djibouti, Botswana, Madagascar, Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, and Lesotho still have their ‘first generation’ climate plans on the UNFCCC online registry that were submitted between 2016 and 2018.

This comes as governments, civil society, and other actors prepare for the UN climate change conference in Egypt next month.

UNFCCC had expected countries to submit updated and ambitious NDCs before the end of 2020 when the implementation of the Paris Agreement kicked off, and to continuously strengthen them thereafter.

The climate plans, technically known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), spell out emission reduction and climate adaptation actions and targets, as well as the financial, technology, and training support needed.

Rwanda, Kenya, and Senegal were among the first African countries to submit updated NDCs in 2020. Sudan, Uganda, and Gabon submitted most recently in 2022.

The African Development Bank’s NDC Hub notes that most ‘first generation’ NDCs from Africa were “hastily put together …and do not truly reflect national needs and potential to fully contribute to global targets of achieving a low-carbon and climate-resilient pathway by mid-century.” This makes NDC revision critical for Africa.

African countries need an estimated US$3 trillion by 2030 to effectively implement their NDCs, with climate action mostly conditional on external support.

Industrialized countries that are most culpable for climate change disproportionately impacting Africa are yet to honour their commitment to delivering the climate finance that the continent desperately needs.