Climate justice must be debt-free, African groups tell G20

A coalition of African civil society groups, climate movements, and community-based organizations have urged leaders of the Group of Twenty (G20), to ensure that climate finance must be made debt-free for countries in Africa.

It comes as Africa hosts the 2025 edition of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, which is the twentieth. It is the group’s first meeting in Africa.

South Africa, the host, assumed the G20 presidency from December 1, 2024, to November 2025, becoming the first African country to chair the forum. It marked the fourth consecutive G20 presidency held by a member of the Global South, following Indonesia in 2022, India in 2023 and Brazil in 2024.

Thirty-three partners from across the African Climate Network, including 350Africa.org, Fair Finance Coalition of Southern Africa, Climate Justice Coalition, Botshabelo Unemployed Movement, Middelburg Environmental Justice Network and NuClimate vision, Newcastle Environmental Justice, Marikana Youth development organisation, released a joint open letter calling on G20 governments to urgent, justice-centred action, beginning with comprehensive debt relief and an immediate, systemic shift from climate loans to grant-based finance.

The letter read: “Africa cannot confront the climate crisis while suffocating under unsustainable debt and loan-driven climate finance. Climate justice must be debt-free, delivered through grants, not loans.”

Despite contributing only 4% of global emissions, African countries are enduring the most severe impacts: extreme droughts, deadly floods, heatwaves, cyclones, desertification, and cascading food and energy insecurity. Every shock pushes vulnerable nations deeper into debt as they borrow to rebuild destroyed infrastructure and protect communities.

Loan-driven climate finance is failing Africa. The continent needs US$52–$106 billion annually for climate adaptation, yet available finance remains scarce, delayed, and overwhelmingly loan-heavy, worsening the crisis Africa faces. Current flows leave a US$127.2 billion annual adaptation gap through 2030.

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The civil society groups also urge G20 leaders to commit to immediate and comprehensive debt relief for African countries, adding that grants, not loans, are the primary channel for climate finance.

They equally called for a fully grant-based Loss and Damage facility to be made accessible now, in addition to a mandatory minimum 50% grant ratio at Multilateral Development Banks for adaptation finance.

The coalition called for “Grant-based support for a just energy transition, including community-owned renewable energy systems, social protection for workers, and local grid investment.”

“We demand grants, not loans, as the only equitable solution. The G20 must show the political will to make the transition away from fossil fuels, backed by over 80 Parties at COP30, credible through grant-based debt justice,” said Alia Kajee, global campaign project manager for 350.org.