Democracy Works Foundation is proud to announce that we’re hosting an official side event at this year’s Africa Climate Summit (ACS).
Our side event is themed, Africa @ the G20: Opportunities and Challenges for Advancing Africa’s Climate Agenda at the G20
Event overview
As Official Development Assistance (ODA) declines and multilateral finance remains slow to respond to the pace and scale of the climate crisis, philanthropic actors are emerging as key enablers of climate
ambition across Africa. Their growing role extends beyond funding, supporting experimentation, participatory governance models, and integrated climate-development approaches that national and
international financing often overlook. The 2025 African Climate Summit presents a critical moment to reposition climate finance as a tool for mitigation and adaptation and an enabler of climate and energy
democracy, particularly in the face of deepening inequality, governance deficits, and intersecting crises of land, water, energy, and livelihoods.
- How Africa’s role in the G20 might support or hinder philanthropic investments to unlock finance for inclusive, democratic, and just climate transitions.
- How African leadership at international platforms such as the G20 can strengthen governance, justice, and rights in international climate change investments and decision-making.
Informed by South Africa’s G20 Environmental and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) agenda and the Foundations20 (F20) recommendations, this session explores, the opportunities and challenges presented by the African Union’s G20 membership in advancing climate and energy democracy on the continent and beyond.
We will be joined by speakers from both established and emerging philanthropies on the African continent, representatives from South Africa’s G20 Presidency, and African Union representatives engaged in G20 work to discuss the African Union’s role at the G20 and the opportunities (or challenges) this presents for advancing climate agendas.
Session Format
Panel Discussion Moderated by Raisa Cole
This hybrid session will feature a panel-style discussion bringing together voices from both established and emerging African philanthropies, representatives from South Africa’s G20 Presidency, and key African Union (AU) stakeholders involved in G20 processes. Together, they will explore the AU’s evolving role within the G20 and unpack the opportunities—and potential challenges—this presents for advancing African climate agendas on the global stage. The session will include virtual participation by some speakers through call-ins and interactive audience engagement via Mentimeter, integrated throughout the discussion.
Background
South Africa is the first African country to host the G20 Presidency. As a result, the country’s G20 leadership has made it abundantly clear that its presidency will focus not only on furthering national priorities within this global platform, but that it will also centre African interests and global development goals such as the SDGs. The African Union’s (AU) formal admission to the G20 marked a significant step toward strengthening Africa’s voice in global governance. Under the 2024 Brazilian G20 Presidency, which prioritised social inclusion, energy access, and governance reform, the AU actively participated in key G20 activities, signalling a new phase of continental engagement in shaping global policy.
Under South Africa’s G20 Presidency, the Environmental and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) priorities reflect a considered effort to align domestic priorities with broader African and Global South environmental concerns. This agenda emphasises the interconnectedness of environmental challenges, such as biodiversity loss, land degradation, pollution, climate change, and migration, with
sustainable development – recognising that solutions must respond to both local contexts and global commitments.
