The 39th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 17 18 February 2026, formally endorsed the 2027 2030 priorities of the African Union Development Agency NEPAD (AUDA NEPAD). Among the six thematic priorities, two directly address green low carbon sustainable development: “Climate Resilience and Disaster Risk Reduction” and “Environmental Sustainability and Natural Capital”.

Under Climate Resilience, the endorsed action points include:

– A continent wide early warning system for climate related disasters (droughts, floods, cyclones), to be built by 2029 with support from the World Meteorological Organization and the African Risk Capacity. The system aims to reduce climate related mortality by 50% by 2035.

– The scaling of climate smart agriculture to 40 million smallholder farmers by 2030, including drought tolerant seeds, agroecological practices, and index based weather insurance. The target is to stabilise yields despite rising temperatures.

– A “Great Green Wall Acceleration Plan” – the Great Green Wall initiative (restoring 100 million hectares of degraded land in the Sahel) has restored only 25 million hectares since its launch in 2007. The new plan injects an additional USD 4 billion from the Green Climate Fund and the World Bank, with a goal of reaching 50 million restored hectares by 2030.

Under Environmental Sustainability, the endorsed priorities include:

– A “Circular Economy Action Plan” for five key waste streams: e waste, plastics, textiles, agricultural residues, and end of life vehicles. The plan sets targets: reduce plastic leakage into oceans by 70% by 2030; recycle 50% of e waste by 2032; and ban the import of non reparable electronics by 2028.

– A “Biodiversity Finance” mechanism to help countries achieve the 30×30 target (protect 30% of land and marine areas by 2030). Currently, African nations have protected an average of 18% of their land. The mechanism will provide technical assistance and grant funding for management plans and community patrols.

– A partnership with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to eliminate lead in paints, mercury in artisanal gold mining, and persistent organic pollutants by 2030.

The Assembly also urged developed countries to honour their USD 100 billion per year climate finance pledge and to operationalise the Loss and Damage Fund agreed at COP28. African heads of state declared 2027 as the “Year of Climate Action and Green Industrialisation”. The endorsed AUDA NEPAD priorities will now be translated into country specific actions under the leadership of the African Union Commission.