Bridging the gap: African cities prepare for the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Cities (SRCC)
Published: 9 Feb 2026
Climate Finance
General
Global efforts to strengthen urban climate resilience advanced at the From Science to Action workshop in Bonn, convened by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), UN-Habitat, and the Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM). The session focused on one central question: how can the forthcoming Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report lead to practitioner-oriented action in cities?
Sub-Saharan Africa was represented by two local government practitioners collaborating with CoM SSA: Basil Angaga Muga, Chief Sustainability Officer of Mombasa County, Kenya, and Dorcas Ohenewaa, Development Planner at the Tema Metropolitan Assembly, Ghana. Their participation brought grounded perspectives from African cities into a discussion, highlighting the need for more deliberate inclusion of African urban contexts in global policy processes.
Reflections throughout the workshop made clear that many European actors are already preparing to operationalise the IPCC report through tools, guidance, and capacity-building initiatives. For African cities, delaying engagement until the report’s official release risks widening the preparedness gap, particularly in a context where access to climate finance is increasingly linked to evidence-based planning.
For CoM SSA, the workshop reinforced a clear strategic takeaway: the programme has a critical role in translating global climate science into practical guidance for African municipalities. By supporting knowledge translation and targeted capacity-building linked to Climate Action Plans, CoM SSA can enable cities to integrate IPCC findings into planning and programming. Early engagement ensures that African cities are active contributors to shaping urban climate solutions.
The workshop also demonstrated that moving from policies to action requires concrete local follow-up. In Ghana, the Tema Metropolitan Assembly plans to establish a task force to review the IPCC report and guide the implementation of climate resilience measures. In collaboration with CoM SSA, the city aims to strengthen research partnerships, align governance and community structures, and develop tailored capacity-building activities. These steps showcase how climate science can inform local decision-making while reinforcing the continued presence of sub-Saharan African cities in global climate and policy discussions.
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