African Faith Leaders Launch Campaign to Demand Fair Climate Action, Target One Million Signatures

By Maurice Momanyi

Faith leaders, religious communities and civil society organisations across Africa have launched a campaign seeking to mobilise one million signatures to pressure governments and climate-finance institutions to turn climate commitments into tangible action.
Dubbed Africa Can’t Wait: Interfaith Voices for Just Climate Action, the initiative seeks to ensure that climate finance, adaptation measures and the transition to cleaner energy benefit communities most affected by climate change.
The campaign comes as African countries continue to grapple with the effects of climate change, including droughts, floods, food insecurity and the loss of livelihoods, despite the continent’s relatively low contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions.
According to the campaign’s official website, the initiative aims to build a broad coalition of faith leaders, young people, policymakers, governments, civil society groups and development partners to hold decision-makers accountable for implementing climate commitments fairly.
The campaign is also mobilising support ahead of the 32nd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations climate convention (COP32), scheduled to take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Four key demands
The initiative is calling for climate action guided by four principles: equity, a rights-centred approach, local leadership and inclusivity.
It argues that communities that have contributed least to the climate crisis should not bear its heaviest costs, while women, young people and indigenous communities must have their rights protected throughout the implementation of climate programmes.
The campaign also wants local communities and institutions, including faith-based organisations, to play a central role in shaping and delivering climate solutions.
It further calls for the involvement of civil society and private-sector actors in implementing climate commitments.
Four priority areas
The campaign’s advocacy programme is organised around four action tracks: climate finance; adaptation, resilience and loss and damage; renewable energy and clean cooking; and restoration and nature-based solutions.
Under climate finance, the initiative is advocating for resources to reach communities and institutions implementing climate solutions on the ground.
Its adaptation agenda seeks to strengthen locally led responses to climate impacts and highlight the effectiveness of community-based resilience programmes.
On energy, the campaign is pushing for equitable access to renewable energy and clean cooking technologies, while its restoration programme supports community-led efforts to restore forests, wetlands and mangroves using local and indigenous knowledge.
The initiative also intends to use digital campaigns, storytelling, media engagement and evidence from community-level projects to strengthen Africa’s influence in international climate policy discussions.
Mobilisation ahead of COP32
The campaign has set a target of collecting one million signatures in support of the fair implementation of existing climate commitments, with individuals and organisations invited to endorse its petition.
Organisers say the signature drive is intended to demonstrate public support for climate finance that reaches vulnerable communities, locally driven adaptation programmes and a just transition to cleaner energy.
The campaign is being supported by a growing coalition of interfaith and development organisations working on climate justice across Africa and beyond.
Its launch was reported in September 2026 on the sidelines of the 14th Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa in Addis Ababa.
The initiative seeks to ensure that the experiences and priorities of African communities inform international negotiations as countries prepare for the next phase of global climate action.