Addis Ababa Mayor Seeks Shared African Cities Climate Agenda at COP32

What changed

Addis Ababa Mayor Adanech Abiebie wants Ethiopia’s capital to use COP32, scheduled for November 2027, to bring African cities together around shared climate priorities, financing needs and development plans.

After discussions with African Development Bank climate director Anthony Okon Nyong and Global Covenant of Mayors ambassador Anne Hidalgo on the sidelines of COP31, she proposed common advocacy, stronger project-preparation capacity and wider technical cooperation.

Why it matters

The proposal puts city governments, rather than only national delegations, at the centre of the climate-finance conversation. The practical agenda includes direct access to funding, help designing and delivering projects, and exchanges on green development, riverside development, urban regeneration and urban agriculture.

That could give African cities a clearer collective platform when COP32 arrives in Addis Ababa. But the idea is still at the organising stage: no financing commitments, participating-city list, governance structure or project pipeline has been announced. Its value will depend on whether a shared voice becomes shared projects that cities can actually prepare, fund and build.