CAN Africa

CAN Africa
Name	CAN Africa
Formation	2000s
Headquarters	Nairobi, Kenya
Region served	Africa

CAN Africa CAN Africa is a pan-African climate advocacy network that coordinates faith-based, civil society, and grassroots actors across the continent. The organisation engages with United Nations processes, African Union mechanisms, and regional blocs while working alongside churches, mosques, indigenous groups, and youth movements. Its activities span policy advocacy, capacity building, and public campaigns aimed at influencing climate finance, energy transition, and adaptation strategies.

History

CAN Africa emerged during the early 2000s amid heightened global climate diplomacy, linking actors active in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change process, African Union discussions, and continental civil society coalitions. Founding participants included networks associated with the World Council of Churches, All Africa Conference of Churches, Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance, and faith leadership from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation region. The network built relationships with advocacy groups involved in the Kyoto Protocol era, actors present at annual Conference of the Parties meetings, and campaigners who later engaged with the Paris Agreement negotiations. Over subsequent decades, CAN Africa expanded ties to environmental NGOs active in the Congo Basin, community organisations in the Sahel, and coastal resilience projects around the Indian Ocean rim.

Mission and Activities

CAN Africa’s stated mission focuses on advancing climate justice, equitable energy transition, and just adaptation for vulnerable communities across Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, and other African states. Its programming includes policy research engaging with the Green Climate Fund, technical training for grassroots groups in partnership with institutes like the African Development Bank and United Nations Environment Programme, and public communication campaigns that mobilise constituencies around the Sustainable Development Goals and loss-and-damage debates. The network organises delegations to UN climate conferences, regional policy roundtables with the Economic Community of West African States, and local resilience workshops with municipal authorities in cities such as Lagos, Nairobi, and Cape Town.

Governance and Structure

CAN Africa operates as a federated network with a secretariat that liaises among member organisations, regional hubs, and thematic working groups focused on finance, energy, and adaptation. Leadership typically comprises representatives from major member bodies including ecumenical organisations like the Anglican Communion, interfaith coalitions tied to the Organisation of African Unity legacy, and secular NGOs with histories in campaigns similar to those run by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. Its governing documents delineate roles for a steering committee, technical advisory panels that have included academics from institutions such as the University of Nairobi and University of Cape Town, and conveners who coordinate with regional economic blocs like the Southern African Development Community.

Funding and Partnerships

CAN Africa receives funding from philanthropic foundations, multilateral climate funds, and bilateral donors, frequently partnering with international NGOs, research institutes, and faith-based funders. Notable partners have included organisations engaged in climate finance debates at the Green Climate Fund and development programmes run by the World Bank and United Nations Development Programme. The network also collaborates with academic partners involved in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments and with campaign allies that have worked on issues connected to extractivism in the Gulf of Guinea and land rights struggles in the Horn of Africa.

Campaigns and Impact

CAN Africa has led and participated in campaigns addressing fossil fuel financing, renewable energy access, and compensation for climate-induced loss and damage. Campaign actions have intersected with global movements that staged protests at UNFCCC COP sessions, supported litigation efforts similar to those by climate plaintiffs in South Africa and Kenya, and amplified youth-led initiatives related to the Fridays for Future movement. The network’s advocacy contributed to regional policy shifts in several African states toward cleaner energy targets, influenced donor discussions at the Green Climate Fund, and helped secure pilot adaptation funding for coastal communities in the Seychelles and smallholder resilience projects in the Lake Victoria basin.

Criticism and Controversies

CAN Africa has faced criticism over governance transparency, funding sources, and strategic alignment with international partners. Critics drawn from local grassroots organisations and some members of the Pan-Africanism movement have argued that alliances with large multilateral institutions risk diluting priorities around indigenous land rights and anti-extractivist stances. Debates have emerged within the network regarding engagement tactics at UN climate conferences versus community-led direct action, and tensions have occasionally paralleled disputes seen in coalitions such as those around the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and contested infrastructure projects in the Sahel.

Category:Environmental organisations based in Africa Category:Climate change organizations Category:Pan-African organisations