Photo: WEF / Benedikt von Loebell
African leaders adopt an assertive strategy for scaling climate finance through home-grown solutions, as the European Court of Justice rejects Austria’s challenge to nuclear and gas inclusion in the EU taxonomy, and Ghana’s central bank pushes green finance integration for small businesses as a key component of global competitiveness
Leaders outline Africa-led green finance strategy at climate summit
Leaders at the second Africa Climate Summit adopted the Addis Ababa Declaration on Climate Change and Call to Action, launching an Africa-led green finance strategy. The declaration marks a shift from previous diplomatic appeals, with leaders demanding genuine investment partnerships after decades of unmet climate finance promises.
Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed announced the continent will mobilise US$50bn a year by 2030 through the Africa Climate Innovation Compact and African Climate Facility. At the same time, African development banks and lenders pledged up to $100bn for green industrialisation.
“We are not here to negotiate our survival. We are here to design the world’s next climate economy,” Ahmed declared at the summit opening.
The declaration explicitly rejected the practice of calling loans “climate finance”, insisting instead on grants and concessional funding rather than debt instruments that worsen already fragile fiscal positions. Meanwhile, leaders called for reforms to the global financial system to lower borrowing costs and improve global representation.
According to green energy thinktank Powershift Africa, “the Declaration asks the rest of the world to stop patronising Africa as a victim in need of saving and start recognising it as a partner with the tools to lead the global green transition”.
EU court dismisses Austria’s challenge to nuclear and gas taxonomy inclusion
The European Union’s General Court rejected Austria’s legal challenge to the inclusion of nuclear energy and fossil gas in the bloc’s sustainable finance taxonomy. It ruled that the European Commission acted within its delegated powers when classifying these activities as transitional solutions for climate change mitigation.
The court found nuclear and fossil gas can, under specific conditions, substantially aid climate mitigation, noting nuclear’s “near to zero greenhouse gas emissions” and the absence of feasible large-scale low-carbon alternatives.
Austria’s environment ministry called the ruling “very regrettable”, maintaining nuclear fails environmental sustainability criteria. The government indicated it would examine the ruling and decide on possible appeal options, including a potential challenge before the Court of Justice within two months.
The decision ends major legal uncertainty, but environmental groups warned it “deals a serious blow” to the credibility of Europe’s sustainable finance framework and creates a precedent for regulatory shortcuts.
Bank of Ghana accelerates green finance integration for SME competitiveness
The Bank of Ghana is intensifying efforts to embed sustainability criteria into financing for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Governor Dr Johnson Asiama said sustainability has become “a prerequisite for global market access”, and that buyers increasingly demand evidence of ethical sourcing and low-carbon practices.
At a sustainability workshop in Accra, Asiama said the central bank is encouraging financial institutions to integrate climate considerations into SME lending through products including green loans, sustainability-linked credit guarantees and tailored advisory services. He emphasised that “staying competitive will depend not only on productivity and quality, but also on the ability of our SMEs to meet evolving sustainability standards”.
The move builds on Ghana’s sustainable banking principles which require banks to factor environmental and social considerations into risk assessment across sensitive sectors.
Singapore secures $510mn for Asian green infrastructure deployment
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has secured $510mn from global private, public and philanthropic investors for sustainable infrastructure in south-east and south Asia. The Green Investments Partnership fund, part of the Singapore’s Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership (FAST-P), will focus on renewable energy, storage, electric vehicles, transport, and water and waste management.
Investors include Export Finance Australia, International Finance Corporation, Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank, HSBC, Temasek, British International Investment, and MAS itself.
MAS assistant managing director Gillian Tan said the fund partners are “participating across different commercial and concessional tranches of the capital structure to de-risk and finance marginally bankable green infrastructure projects in the region”.
FAST-P, launched in 2023, uses blended and tiered financing to help marginally bankable infrastructure across south-east Asia secure investment despite perceived development risks.
Research highlights
Net-Zero Banking Alliance: Political Pressure Materialises in Weakening of Net Zero Commitments Globally
Analysis reveals that the new US administration’s exit from the Paris Agreement triggered mass departures from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, with major institutions abandoning the framework throughout 2025. Despite 90% of EU banks now considering themselves materially exposed to climate risks – up from 50% in 2021 – the alliance’s transition to a non-membership framework reduces collective pressure as current policies point toward catastrophic 2.5-3.0°C warming by 2100.
2024 Joint Summary Report on Multilateral Development Banks’ Climate Finance
Multilateral development banks shattered records with $137bn in climate finance during 2024, including $85.1bn for developing countries and a 33% surge in private co-finance to $134bn globally. Though MDBs exceeded 2025 targets and progress toward 2030’s $120bn goal, experts warn $240-300bn annually is required to meet actual climate needs.
This page was last updated September 18, 2025
Written by
Ike Walker, a Green Central Banking contributor since 2023, has a decade's experience in research writing. An Utrecht-based scholar, Ingrid specialises in transformative justice, green finance, law and systems change. They are an Utrecht University's Bright Minds scholar and previously worked for Cambridge University and various justice-based NGOs.
