Author: Ian Henderson

A World Left Behind: Consequences of Trump’s Policy Reversals on Africa’s Climate Agenda

Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and suspension of USAID funding mark a drastic shift in U.S. global policy. The crisis exposes aid dependency, prompting calls for self-sufficiency, yet leaving vulnerable populations, particularly in Africa, facing immediate hardship with multiple climate programmes and projects now at risk.
  • African Climate Policy

African Agriculture Development Strategy Lagging Behind

  • African Climate Policy

Betting Big While Transparency is a Mystery – Ghana’s Carbon Market Dilemma

  • African Climate Policy

Climate Diplomacy in 2025

  • African Climate Policy, COP30

Stories and Events to Look Out for in 2025

  • COP30

African countries argue for climate justice at International Court of Justice

African countries have invited the ICJ to recognise an international law legal duty on states to reduce their GHG emissions and to pay reparations, including in the form of debt relief of cancellation, in one of the biggest cases ever before the court.
  • Climate Litigation

Gridlock as Riyadh COP16 Fails to Deliver Drought Protocol Deal

The recent desertification COP in Riyadh under the UN Convention to Combat Desertification failed to deliver what African countries wanted most: a legally binding protocol on drought, marking another disappointing outcome from the Rio Conventions this year. 
  • Adaptation

Global Goal on Adaptation: The Scores and Misses in Baku 

COP 29 in Baku brought some clarity to the technical process and work on indicators within the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), but a major question mark hangs over the political impetus underpinning the discussions, especially after the largely disappointing outcome on finance that marked the COP. 
  • Adaptation, COP29

What the COP29 Agreement on Carbon Markets means for Uganda

COP29's agreement on a global carbon market could be a boost for Uganda. But the country needs to focus on capacity building and infrastructure development in order to truly benefit from a carbon credits programme.
  • COP29

The COP that No-One Likes

It is normal for countries to leave the COP disgruntled but resigned to the outcome, with wins and losses for everyone. But this year’s finance COP left a deeply bitter taste in the mouth for developing countries, with Nigeria calling the US$300 billion finance target a joke, and more questions than answers about whether to disband the COP process entirely. But there were some wins on trade, adaptation and carbon markets within the morass of despair on finance. In our roundup we look back and discuss the key issues and outcomes.
  • Adaptation, Article 6, COP29, Loss And Damage, Trade