The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) and the Africa Make Big Polluters Pay Coalition have warned that continued fossil fuel expansion and corporate influence could undermine Africa’s climate commitments and expose vulnerable communities to the adverse effects of the energy transition.
The organisations raised the concerns during the hybrid launch and media presentation of reports examining Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan and Nationally Determined Contributions across five African countries, on the sidelines of the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference in Antalya, Türkiye.
The reports, titled *Four Years On: Examining Nigeria’s Just Transition Plan* and *Nationally Determined Contributions in Africa: A Five-Country Analysis*, assessed climate commitments, financing arrangements and social protection measures in Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa, Togo and Uganda.
In his opening remarks, CAPPA’s Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said Africa had contributed relatively little to historical greenhouse gas emissions but continued to suffer disproportionately from climate-related disasters, including flooding, extreme heat and drought.
He said Nigeria’s climate ambitions were being undermined by continued dependence on oil and gas, inadequate social protection and financing arrangements capable of increasing the country’s debt burden.
Oluwafemi warned that corporate interests could benefit from climate policies while local communities bear the consequences of environmental degradation and loss of livelihoods.
He said the reports provided an opportunity to reconsider how energy policies and climate commitments could better serve communities, stressing the need for equity, transparency, accountability and meaningful public participation.
Presenting the findings, CAPPA’s Assistant Executive Director, Zikorah Ibeh, said although African countries had recorded progress in climate policy development and renewable energy deployment, their economies remained heavily dependent on fossil fuels.
She said the expansion of cleaner energy had not significantly transformed the institutions and revenue structures sustaining dependence on oil and gas.
The Nigeria assessment highlighted what it described as a contradiction between the country’s climate commitments and its fossil fuel production ambitions, noting that Nigeria was targeting net-zero emissions by 2060 while retaining a production target of three million barrels of crude oil daily by 2030.
The report also cited Cameroon’s decision to move five oil exploration blocks into contract negotiations with Murphy West Africa and Octavia Energy as another example of the conflict between climate commitments and continued fossil fuel development.
CAPPA also questioned the classification of natural gas as a clean transition fuel, noting that methane, its major component, has contributed nearly 30 per cent of global warming since the Industrial Revolution.
Ibeh said investments that prolong dependence on gas needed closer scrutiny because of their environmental consequences and the public resources diverted from renewable energy development.
The reports further raised concerns about carbon markets and offsetting schemes, arguing that they could allow major polluters to delay actual emissions reductions by compensating for their pollution through projects in other locations.
Citing Uganda’s climate plan, the organisation said commercial plantations accounted for a significantly larger share of projected emissions reductions than two natural forest restoration measures.
It also referenced documentation by the Oakland Institute of forced evictions associated with a forestry and carbon-credit project in Kachung, Uganda.
CAPPA warned that rural communities risk losing ancestral lands to corporate interests pursuing projects presented as environmentally friendly, particularly in areas where land rights are weak and residents have limited influence over decisions.
The organisation also criticised climate financing arrangements that depend heavily on loans, warning that African countries could end up repaying more than they receive in support to address a crisis they contributed relatively little to creating.
According to CAPPA, Nigeria estimates that it requires 337 billion dollars between 2026 and 2035 to meet its climate commitments, with 80 per cent expected from international funding.
It added that Togo had made 69.9 per cent of its climate financing requirements conditional on international support, while approximately 80 per cent of international financial assistance recorded for South Africa’s climate commitments in 2021 and 2022 came in the form of loans.
The organisation also cited research by Oxfam and the CARE Climate Justice Centre, which estimated that 62 billion dollars in climate loans received by developing countries in 2022 could result in repayments of up to 88 billion dollars over their lifetime.
On Nigeria’s energy transition, the assessment found that responsibilities were spread across several institutions, while financing remained heavily dependent on anticipated investments.
It also identified inadequate enforceable guarantees for workers and affected communities, particularly regarding income security, retraining and environmental restoration.
CAPPA maintained that a just energy transition should guarantee reliable and affordable electricity, protect livelihoods and ensure the restoration of environments damaged by extractive activities, particularly in the Niger Delta.
Citing World Bank figures, Ibeh said more than 80 million Nigerians lacked access to electricity as of March 2025, arguing that the country’s transition should prioritise expanding electricity access alongside reducing emissions.
Also speaking, the Founder and Chief Executive of Yielding Intersectional Movements in South Africa, Ndivile Mokoena, said climate commitments must translate into practical action, adequate financing and meaningful support for developing countries.
Mokoena said the persistent gap between international climate commitments and realities in local communities raised concerns about political commitment and economic systems that prioritise profit over human welfare and environmental sustainability.
Similarly, the Executive Director of Nia Environment and Zero Carbon Alliance in Uganda, Acola Amina, called for an inclusive climate agenda that reflects the needs and experiences of affected communities.
She stressed the importance of collective action and meaningful participation in developing climate policies that protect the rights and interests of vulnerable populations.
At the end of the presentation, CAPPA and its partners urged African negotiators at the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference to reject carbon offsetting as a substitute for direct emissions reductions and demand safeguards against corporate interference in national climate policies.
They also called on governments to protect communal lands and livelihoods by establishing enforceable rights for Indigenous Peoples, smallholder farmers, rural women and communities affected by climate and extractive activities.
The organisations further advocated predictable, grant-based climate financing from historically high-emitting countries instead of loan arrangements that could deepen Africa’s debt burden.
They called for a properly planned and financed reduction in fossil fuel extraction, alongside increased investment in decentralised renewable energy, affordable electricity, workers’ income protection, retraining programmes, environmental remediation and livelihood restoration.
