Ethiopia Applies to Host COP32 in 2027

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has announced Ethiopia's formal bid to host the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP32) in 2027, positioning the country as a hub of climate diplomacy and innovation.

Addressing delegates at the Second Africa Climate Summit on Monday, Abiy emphasized the symbolic weight of bringing the summit to Addis Ababa, home to the African Union and a city he described as "Africa's capital of diplomacy and climate ambition."

"We are the first African generation with the means to heal what was broken and the last with the time to do it," he said.

"That is why Ethiopia is proud to present its candidacy to host COP32 in 2027. We invite the world to witness our solutions and to help shape the future."

If successful, Ethiopia would be the second African nation in recent years to host a COP meeting, following Egypt's COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh in 2022.

Abiy reiterated that Africa must move beyond narratives of deficit and dependency to one of opportunity and leadership in tackling the global climate crisis.

"Too often Africa's story at climate summits begins with what we lack--funds, finance, technology, time. Let us begin instead with what we have: the youngest population in the world bursting with creativity and innovation, the fastest-growing solar belt on Earth, and the planet's last carbon vaults in our forests, wetlands, and coasts," he said.

Abiy highlighted Ethiopia's own climate initiatives as proof of what is possible through vision and purpose. These include the Green Legacy Initiative, which has planted more than 48 billion trees since 2019, climate-resilient wheat production reducing food imports, and upcoming opening of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), set to deliver over 5,000 megawatts of renewable power.

Other efforts include Ethiopia's clean cooking roadmap, designed to ease household burdens and reduce emissions; smart city initiatives promoting electric mobility and public green spaces; and the phasing out of fossil fuel transport.

Abiy framed these programs as "African solutions to global challenges," maintaining that the continent has the resources, innovation, and resilience to lead the next phase of global climate action.

He further proposed and African Climate Innovation Compact, aiming to mobilize universities, startups, communities, and research institutions to deliver 1,000 African solutions in sectors such as energy, agriculture, transport, water, and resilience by 2030.

"We ask our global partners not to fund us because we are impacted, but to invest with us because we are visionary," Abiy said, insisting that Africa must claim "climate data sovereignty" by mapping its own forests, pricing its ecosystems, and shaping its own carbon economy.

Read the original article on Capital FM.