NAIROBI / JOHANNESBURG, 5 June 2026 – On World Environment Day, Greenpeace Africa is calling on African governments to act on the climate emergency as extreme weather events continue to intensify across the continent, threatening lives, food systems, and the livelihoods of millions.
The organisation has called on governments across Africa to honour their Nationally Determined Contribution commitments and implement practical domestic policies that protect African communities.
With South Africa being the continent’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, the transition to clean energy has particular urgency.
Siya Myeza, Climate and Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace Africa, said:
“South Africa is a major emitter of greenhouse gases on the African continent and is the thirteenth biggest emitter in the world due to its almost complete reliance on coal. It is crucial that the South African government, in particular, prioritises raising ambitions to act on climate through a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.”
That transition holds economic potential that extends beyond South Africa. Across the continent, hundreds of millions of people still lack reliable access to electricity.
Sherelee Odayar, Oil and Gas Campaign Lead at Greenpeace Africa, said:
“African countries have some of the best renewable energy resources in the world. Energy poverty is still the daily reality for hundreds of millions of people on this continent, and governments have the means to address it. Renewable energy investments save water, create jobs, and drive inclusive economic growth. Governments that are serious about addressing poverty, inequality, and unemployment need to prioritise universal access to clean electricity and remove the barriers that are holding back clean energy investment. Developing new energy systems on fossil fuels will only deepen the climate crisis and deny communities the economic opportunities that come with a clean energy transition.”
Climate change is also reshaping how Africa grows its food. Smallholder farmers across the continent are already dealing with more frequent and less predictable extreme weather.
Elizabeth Atieno, Food Campaigner at Greenpeace Africa, said:
“African farmers are not waiting for the climate crisis to arrive. It is already in their fields, in the rainfall patterns they can no longer predict, and in the harvests they are losing. African countries need a holistic approach to agriculture that achieves both food security and forest protection. Ecological farming, built on the traditional methods that have sustained communities for generations, is how Africa builds genuine resilience into its food systems. Governments need to support that transition, not leave it to farmers to face alone.”
Driving each of these challenges is the continued expansion of fossil fuel industries, which accelerate climate change and generate pollution with consequences that reach deep into communities and ecosystems.
Hellen Dena, Project Lead, Pan African Plastics Project, Greenpeace Africa, said:
“With over 99% of plastic being made from fossil fuels, plastic production and its use is significantly driving the climate crisis and intensifying the extreme weather we see across Africa. African communities contribute just 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. They are absorbing a grossly disproportionate share of the consequences through floods, droughts, displacement, and the destruction of livelihoods built over generations. African governments must end the corporate addiction to single -use plastics, keep oil and gas used to produce plastic in the ground and stop big polluters from their relentless plastic production.”
On World Environment Day, Greenpeace Africa calls on African governments to transition to 100% renewable energy, protect forests and food systems, raise their NDC ambitions with concrete implementation plans, and ensure that polluters bear the cost of the damage they have caused.
ENDS
