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By Fidele Niyigaba
African non-state actors are alarmed at little progress on the means of implementation of the GGA discussion and pressure to force through half-baked indicators. Recognizing that, without effective implementation, indicators are useless, we urge African negotiators to resist anything short of a decision that reflects the scale and urgency of adaptation in Africa. Belem, November 17, 2025.
Africans came to Belem in Brazil with one hope to secure the means for implementation of adaptation programs, precisely climate finance for implementation of the Global Goal on Adaptation. Unfortunately, in the current state, securing the much-needed climate finance for adaptation is not only a distant away, but a mirage!
In the current state of talks, what we see are machinations by developed country parties to rewrite the Paris Agreement by shifting obligations for the implementation of the adaptation agenda to those least responsible for the climate crisis, and those with the least capability to finance adaptation. The Paris Agreement principle on common but differentiated responsibilities based on Respective Capabilities is being thrown to the dogs, and in its place, Africa is being requested to demonstrate its contribution towards funding adaptation.
We are disturbed by a number of indicators that are hellbent on rewriting the Paris Agreement and shifting the responsibility of financing the implementation of the convention to African countries, which are already debt-stricken. Indicators such as “proportion of government budget allocated to climate adaptation and resilience” and “annual adaptation finance expenditure” effectively transfer the burden of financing adaptation to developing countries.
At the onset, we insist that financing adaptation cannot be optional; it is not charity, and therefore, it is mere rhetoric to discuss indicators of GGA without the requisite means of implementation. For UNFCCC COP30, the horse has to lead the cart – in this case, climate finance.
As the negotiations enter the second and final week, there are no indicators on finance yet on the table. The indicator list on means of implementation is yet to be finalized. This is a worrisome state because parties have no basis for negotiation on the most crucial ingredient for the delivery of the GGA. Whereas the call for ambitious GGA has been normalised, we assert that there cannot be ambition on action without corresponding ambitious support. We cannot strive to measure the results of an action that is not funded.
Yet, whereas the strive to adopt the GGA indicators remains on, glaring gaps in these indicators point to the need for much more work and collaborative action. The multivariate issues and gaps in the list of indicators point to much more protracted work to be precise and certain in what we seek to measure, as well as relevantly so in aligning efforts. For instance, a number of indicators focus on superficial outputs rather than measuring transformative and tangible results/adaptation outcomes.
We assert that securing the GGA indicators is inadequate unless supported by adequate means of implementation and therefore call on the COP30 Presidency to take personal leadership and influence on the global community to ensure GGA indicators are complete with means of implementation. The grandstanding on climate finance, which is an essential ingredient in the implementation of the adaptation agenda, cannot go unchallenged. In addition, we take note of other pertinent issues that should be at the focus of expedited closure:
- The Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) framework must include strong and measurable indicators on the Means of Implementation (MoI), as determining factors for accountability and alignment with Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement. These indicators should comprehensively assess both action and support provided to developing countries, measuring access to, quality of, and the scale of adaptation finance in line with the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities.
2. Mainstream the global reform agenda into adaptation, ensuring appropriate reforms in finance, debt, taxation, and trade to afford vulnerable states and their citizens the fiscal space necessary to implement adaptation efforts.
3. Defer the adoption of the GGA indicators for further in-depth discussions, refinement, and utilise the opportunity provided by COP30 to take note of the work and progress that has gone into the development of these indicators
4. A deeper introspection of the policy implications of the GGA indicators is important, ensuring that there are no substantial policy shift expectations for Africa.
We insist that COP must maintain its fidelity to parties’ commitments. It’s a public discourse, not a private one. The more UNFCCC COPs begin to focus on private provision of climate finance, the more they lose focus.
We urge parties at COP30 to pay more attention to the amount of international public finance provided by developed countries to developing countries to implement the GGA, including its targets.
