Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, has contributed little to greenhouse gas emissions yet bears the brunt of climate impacts. Eight out of ten of the countries most affected by climate change are located on the continent (Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative, 2025) and the climate crisis is an escalating threat to the lives and livelihoods of millions, particularly vulnerable populations already grappling with food insecurity, economic slowdown, social exclusion, conflict, debt and inequality. The impact on lives and livelihoods is devastating, with over 110 million people directly affected by weather-, climate- and water-related disasters in 2022 (World Meteorological Organisation, 2023). Furthermore, an estimated 20% of Africa’s population is undernourished and more than one-third face severe food insecurity (FAO et al., 2023). Droughts and floods are worsening agriculture productivity and increasing Africa’s dependence on food imports, worsening the current account balance, and displacing productive investments. Moreover, despite being renewable energy rich, Africa remains energy-access poor with 600 million Africans, about half the continent’s population, lacking access to electricity, and some 900 million lack access to clean cooking fuels and technologies (IEA, 2022). The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Eastern Africa is a regional economic community with eight member states: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda. The IGAD region is already experiencing the impacts of climate change including droughts, floods, sea level rise, storms and desertification that affect livelihoods, poverty, water and food systems, ecosystems, health and infrastructure (IGAD, 2023a). These impacts are particularly severe across the 60–70% of the region classified as arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) and for the pastoral and agro-pastoral systems that support the livelihoods of much of the population. Since 2020, the region has experienced several consecutive failed rainy seasons and increasingly intense cycles of drought and flooding have led to food insecurity for millions of people. Already marginalised populations, including women and girls, youth, indigenous peoples, stateless persons, displaced people, and people with disabilities are disproportionately impacted by these crises (ibid). Political instability, conflict and insecurity are also a challenge. Conflict is experienced to varying degrees in Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and Eritrea. Displacement due to both climate and conflict is a major issue, with over 14.8 million internally displaced peoples (IDPs) in the region. Several IGAD countries face high debt burdens and limited fiscal space which constrain their capacity to invest in climate adaptation and development. The resulting conditions of food insecurity, poverty and vulnerability severely undermine the resilience of communities to escalating climate challenges. Given the scale of climate impacts expected and already experienced in the region, the countries of the IGAD region require international support to address adaptation and loss and damage as well as to transition to low-carbon development pathways consistent with the goal of limiting global warming to no more than 1.5°C. This finance must also contribute to gender transformative outcomes. All of the countries have now developed Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) which outline national climate pledges alongside budgets and frameworks for achieving mitigation targets and adaptation goals under the Paris Agreement. Based on NDCs for sub-Saharan Africa as a whole, financial needs are estimated as 143.3 billion USD annually by 2030 (Climate Policy Initiative, 2025). However, these estimates are likely to be underestimated due to limited data and technical expertise to fully assess the actual costs of mitigation and adaptation measures. With many countries expected to submit more ambitious NDCs in 2025, financial requirements are anticipated to rise even further.

From 2025 onward, support provided and mobilized by developed countries will be guided by the new collective quantified goal on climate finance (NCQG), agreed at COP29 in November 2024. The NCQG, which replaces the previous target of USD 100 billion per year, calls for a significant scaling up of climate finance, aiming for at least USD 300 billion annually by 2030 to support climate action in developing countries. The NCQG should reflect the evolving needs and priorities of developing countries, and the COP decision also acknowledges the need for public, grant-based resources, particularly for adaptation and loss and damage in those countries most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change (UNFCCC, 2024). While the NCQG reflects increased ambition, there is a growing gap between the needs of developing countries and support provided and mobilized, highlighted, for example, by the global stocktake conducted under the Paris Agreement. Access to international climate finance remains uneven and inadequate, despite high vulnerability and urgent need. As such, there is an urgent need to scale up of climate finance that meets the needs and priorities of the vulnerable recipient countries in line with the principle of historical responsibility and respective capabilities, as articulated under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and to enhance access to climate finance. This report presents an overview of international climate finance flows to the eight member states of the IGAD Regional Economic Community—Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda—over the period from 2013 to 2022. It examines the volume, objective and main providers, as well as the gaps in climate finance for adaptation and mitigation within the IGAD countries. Given that many IGAD countries are facing rising levels of debt, the report evaluates the implications of grants versus loans and their impact on national debt burdens and the risk of debt distress. The analysis particularly focuses on the availability of and gap in climate finance for the agricultural sector, recognizing its critical role in livelihoods in the region, and aims to shed light on the gaps in humanitarian financing for climate-related disasters in the region, which are becoming increasingly frequent and severe. The report integrates a gender analysis, exploring the extent to which climate finance is gender responsive. By adding to the understanding of the quantity of and trends in climate financial flows to the region, this report aims to inform ongoing discourse on transforming climate financing and contribute to reimagining a global financial architecture that is fit-for-purpose to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.

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