Cities at the Centre: CoM SSA at the Africa Climate Summit 2
Published: 14 Oct 2025
Events
Entering its tenth year alongside the Paris Agreement, the Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa (CoM SSA) has grown into the region’s largest city climate initiative, supporting over 400 municipalities to align local ambition with national strategies and to accelerate access to finance. Co-funded by EU, BMZ, AECID and The French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and implemented through long-standing partners AFD/EF (France), AECID (Spain), GIZ (Germany) and ICLEI Africa (host of the CoM SSA Secretariat), CoM SSA combines technical support with political dialogue, helping cities translate plans into impactful, climate-resilient infrastructure.
As leaders convened in Addis Ababa for the Africa Climate Summit 2 (ACS2), access to finance was again at the heart of the agenda. The question is no longer whether cities matter, but how their work is recognised, resourced, and integrated into national and global climate priorities.
ACS2 underlined the shift from aid to investment and the need for durable partnerships that bridge the persistent gap between fragmented processes, city projects and finance. The European Union presence backed up this agenda, underlining that the EU’s partnership with the AU is focused on clean, just and competitive transitions, and that Global Gateway is the umbrella for scaling investment and de-risking across the continent.
The RMF: Political momentum and urban voice
To ensure that CoM SSA’s technical and financial advances are matched by a strong, representative urban voice, a new CoM SSA Regional Mayors Forum (RMF) was elected in 2025. Comprising of 12 mayors from across the four subregions of Sub-Saharan Africa, the RMF is a political interface, advocating for the resources that cities need to turn plans into action and championing the formal recognition of municipal contributions to climate targets, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and adaptation plans, while aligning with continental frameworks such as the AU’s Agenda 2063.
Right bottom: Mayor of Nansana speaking at the RMF meeting
Ahead of the Summit, RMF members participated in the Climate Week 2 (CW2) and held an in-person RMF Meeting, consolidating three political messages to carry forward through the Summit and towards COP30:
- Devolved climate finance for local governments;
- Institutionalising multilevel governance for NDC delivery,
- Addressing loss and damage through just and inclusive climate transitions.
Africa’s Cities: From vulnerability to investment opportunity
titled: Enhancingclimate change adaptation and resilience through green urban design, water resilience
and circular city models
For Africa the facts are stark and sub-Saharan Africa is the most climate-vulnerable region globally. Though climate impacts are first felt and hardest in cities, they are also drivers of innovation that enable solutions. Nevertheless, without dedicated, fit-for-city channels, headline commitments risk bypassing the governments closest to people.
CoM SSA entered ACS2 as a coordinated constituency. Taken together, the RMF interventions brought a strong urban voice to sessions, one that conveys their consolidated messaging across thematics, converting city experience into agenda-setting signals. CoM SSA actively advocated for cities inclusion in the Addis Ababa Declaration, securing the recognition of subnational leadership in Africa’s climate commitments. View a snapshot of CoM SSA at ACS2 here.
Small Medium Enterprises and local governments
Middle: Deputy Governorof Embu County speaking at a session titled: Heritage in Climate Policy: Aligning NDCs with Culture-Based
Adaptation – Advocating for the integration of cultural heritage into African climate strategies and finance frameworks
Right: Mayor of Wavlis Bay speaking at a session titled: Mobilising Culture and Heritage for Climate Resilience: African
Solutions from the Ground Up – Showcasing indigenous knowledge, local practices, and heritage-based adaptation strategies
From risk to resilience: How African cities are shaping climate secure futures
Overall, ACS2 delivered high-level pledges, including a $100 billion commitment for Africa’s green industrialisation by African DFIs and commercial banks. In parallel, the Team Europe presence advanced the Global Gateway agenda, launching AU–EU flagship programmes to accelerate renewable integration and cross-border power markets, as concrete steps to channel investment into Africa’s green transition. These actions affirm Africa’s position not only as vulnerable to climate impacts but as solutions and investment hub, where cities play a decisive role.
CoM SSA will carry this momentum into the COP30 cycle, through its trusted multi-partner platform, a maturing pipeline of city-led projects, and a representative political voice. This means matching ambition with structured delivery at the local level. With the right recognition and partnerships, African cities will do the rest.
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