Europe, Africa set to push the borders on adaptation
By Alberto Leny, August 5, 2025As the impacts of climate change intensify, effective climate adaptation is needed more than ever to safeguard livelihoods, ensure food security and protect at-risk populations.
Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to the current and future effects of climate change. It involves taking actions to moderate potential damage or to exploit opportunities presented by climate change.
Innovative partnerships that empower local solutions and build resilience from the ground up are increasingly essential.
Denmark has recently been elected to the European Union (EU) presidency.
In this role, it hopes can help make clear progress on supporting climate resilience in Africa at upcoming summits, including the United Nations Climate Change Convention (COP30) in Belém, Brazil.
In a commentary in the latest issue of the authoritative UK-based Climate Home News digital publication, Dan ChurchAid global climate lead Mattias Söderberg and Grace Mbungu, a senior fellow for climate adaptation at the Africa-Europe Foundation, said Europe and Africa must push the boundaries on adaptation.
Aside from the internal challenge to reach an agreement on the EU position at COP30 in Brazil and the 7th African Union-European Union Heads of State Summit in Angola, Denmark will also drive the diplomatic outreach, balancing geopolitical, trade and security concerns.
“As such, the Danish EU Presidency will certainly be difficult; we argue it also presents a unique opportunity, which should be seized,” said Söderberg and Mbungu.
Different visions
COP30 and the AU-EU summit in November provide possibilities for the EU to deepen its partnership with Africa, one of the continent’s most vulnerable to climate change impacts and risks, despite contributing minimally to current and historical global greenhouse gas emissions.
Africa’s climate reality is stark: frequent droughts, devastating floods, and rising temperatures threaten food and water availability, health, economic growth, social stability, and regional security.
These impacts undermine human development gains and future economic prospects across the continent.
“Yet, Africa’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions remains small compared to Europe’s historical and current footprint. This asymmetry calls for a climate partnership rooted in justice, equity, and solidarity,” said Söderberg and Mbungu.
The lack of trust and divergent priorities and visions between the continents is significant.
African governments are still frustrated about the disappointing outcome from COP29 in Baku and June’s climate talks in Bonn, and the EU is worried about rising geopolitical tensions, where EU-Africa collaboration becomes crucial.
“We hear that adaptation will become a prioritised topic at COP30, as well as the upcoming second Africa Climate Summit in September. The AU-EU leaders’ meeting also offers a platform for both continents to articulate shared priorities and commitments to increase the focus on adaptation,” they noted.
The writers ask the EU to seize this moment to scale up support for climate adaptation in Africa, recognising adaptation action and finance as equally urgent and important as mitigation.
“This has long been a key call from African countries, and COP30 should be the venue where the EU commits to a new, ambitious adaptation finance goal that goes beyond the current pledge to double adaptation finance by 2025 compared to 2019”.
Given the rapidly escalating climate impacts, drastically scaling up adaptation finance and easing delivery and access are essential to meet growing needs and close the glaring finance gap.
Currently, around 32 per cent of climate finance reaching Africa goes towards adaptation, this figure being itself limited to 2-4 per cent of global climate finance.
Moreover, adaptation finance must be accessible, predictable, and tailored to local needs and priorities. Many African countries face high debt burdens, limiting their fiscal space to invest in resilience.
The two writers argue that the EU should prioritise mobilising grants and concessional financing over loans, while advocating for reforms in the international financial architecture to ease access and empower regional and local institutions.
“Decentralising climate finance delivery through regional offices and local banking institutions can accelerate implementation and ensure funds reach communities on the frontlines,” Söderberg and Mbungu explained.
Joint innovation
According to the duo, the Africa-Europe climate partnership must also embrace an integrated approach.
“Adaptation is not just an environmental issue; it intersects with health, food security, infrastructure, peace, and economic development”.
In Africa, the climate crisis is entangled in social and economic underdevelopment, inequalities, and a water-energy-food poverty crisis. By integrating adaptation into activities addressing these broader development agendas, synergy can be achieved.
Expertise in green technologies, early warning systems, and climate-smart and precision agriculture can complement local innovations and traditional knowledge.
Facilitating technology transfer and joint research will contribute to adaptation, create jobs, and open new markets for sustainable growth.
Fostering diverse and inclusive dialogue is key to building trust and shared ownership. In this context, the EU should actively engage a wide range of African partners to review the progress and impact of existing initiatives,
Such initiatives include the €1 billion Team Europe Initiative on Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience in Africa, launched at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, by the EU and several member states, including Denmark.
Denmark’s EU presidency therefore stands at a crossroads. By championing an ambitious, equitable, and action-oriented Africa-Europe climate adaptation agenda, it can catalyse a partnership that safeguards lives, livelihoods and peace on both continents.
“Failure to act decisively risks undermining global climate goals and exacerbating inequalities that fuel regional instability and displacement,” said the writers.
To guide Africa, Europe and the world toward a prosperous and climate-resilient future, adaptation solutions and actions emerging from the upcoming summits and negotiations should be aligned with the needs, values, and priorities of people on the ground.
“The message from Denmark and the EU must be clear: climate adaptation is not a side issue, but a central pillar of climate justice and sustainable development. The time for bold leadership and solidarity is now”.
Scientists have identified Nature-based Solutions (NbS) as effective actions in addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, the twin crises with significant impact on communities globally
NbS for adaptation are actions that manage, protect, conserve, restore, and sustainably use the natural environment to strengthen the resilience of communities and nature to the impacts of climate change.
NbS are actions that use nature to address social, economic and environmental challenges, and provide benefits for human well-being and biodiversity.
Actions that can help with climate change issues, food and water security, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity loss and human health and well-being.
NbS involve assessing how climate will affect natural ecosystems and people of all genders and social backgrounds. When deciding which NbS for adaptation interventions to implement, it is important to ask the right questions and consider if the options will be effective, inclusive and sustainable.
Writing in Earth Negotiations Bulletin, Onyinye Oguntoye and Danielle Kitson said one way to achieve this is to support locally-led and locally-driven ideas because no one understands the challenges of climate change and biodiversity better than those who experience it firsthand.
“NbS for adaptation is helping these communities build resilience to climate change, while also creating sustainable interventions suitable for the local context and benefit both communities and ecosystems”.