As the African Union enters its Decade on Reparations, African Futures Lab works with the African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) (external link)Climate Change Working Group to push for climate action rooted in justice, accountability, and historical responsibility.
In 2025 the AU ECOSOCC Climate Change Working Group produced several outputs, including a policy brief on African priorities ahead of COP30 and seven position papers on mitigation, adaptation, and climate finance.
Our Lab leads the Climate Finance Workstream, chaired by Dr. Patrick Toussaint. (external link) Under this workstream, we contributed three position papers, including as lead author of a paper on Advancing Climate Reparations, Human Rights, and Gender Justice Through Climate Finance. This position paper reveals how climate finance frameworks reduce justice questions to technical procedures, leaving African communities outside the rooms where decisions are made. This analysis forms part of a wider pattern in which administrative tools overshadow structural redistribution, historical responsibility, and the lived experiences of climate-vulnerable populations.