In a moment that many present will remember as a moral wake-up call, faith leaders took centre stage at the opening plenary of the 2025 UNEP Regional Consultative Meeting for Major Groups and Stakeholders in Africa, a critical prelude to the 20th Ordinary Session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN).
Standing before an audience of seasoned climate negotiators and civil society actors, GreenFaith’s Global Director of Programs and Executive Director for Africa, Meryne Warah, posed a question that echoed through the hall and into every heart: “Why Faith?”
The room fell into a profound silence, not of confusion, but of collective reflection. In that stillness, it became clear: Faith is not an afterthought in Africa’s climate discourse. It is its moral bedrock.
In Africa, Faith Is Not Marginal, It’s Central
Across the African continent, faith is woven into everyday life. Over 90% of people identify with a faith tradition; Christian, Muslim, Indigenous, or otherwise. Religious leaders are often the most trusted voices, especially in moments of crisis. Yet, when it comes to designing climate policies and implementing just energy transitions, their influence is too often overlooked.
Speaking with unapologetic clarity, Ms. Warah reminded delegates: “If Africa does not shape its own long-term energy vision, we will simply be cogs in someone else’s.” And history has shown us that “someone else” has rarely acted in Africa’s best interests.
A Green Rush or Just the Same Old Exploitation?
The so-called green transition risks repeating the injustices of the fossil fuel era. Africa holds a staggering 60% of the world’s solar resources, yet it generates less than 2% of global solar power. Communities in resource-rich regions like the Democratic Republic of Congo which supplies nearly half of the world’s cobalt remain deprived of basic services like electricity and clean water.
From Tanzania to Uganda, local communities face displacement and environmental destruction to feed a “clean energy” boom that leaves them behind. Meanwhile, climate finance still disproportionately favours multinational corporations, bypassing community-based and faith-led initiatives that are best positioned to ensure equity and sustainability.
Bringing Conscience Back to the Climate Table
Warah’s words rang true: “Policy without ethics is dangerous. Silence in the face of injustice is itself a form of violence.”
For faith leaders, the climate crisis is not just technical, it is deeply moral. GreenFaith Africa is working to ensure faith communities are not bystanders but vital agents of change. From pulpits to protests, from prayer circles to policy forums, faith-rooted groups are mobilizing to defend land and water, resist destructive extractive projects like EACOP, and advance a just, people-centred energy transition.
Inclusion Must Be More Than a Token
All too often, faith perspectives are treated as an afterthought, invited to bless plans that were drawn up without them. GreenFaith Africa rejects this model. True collaboration means bringing faith leaders to the table from the beginning, because they are uniquely connected to the communities most affected, and the first respondents in the face of climate disasters..
Faith leaders connect almost daily with women, young people, farmers, elders and they speak the language of hope and moral courage, not just megawatts and carbon credits Faith provides the conscience that ties policy to purpose.
A Call for Moral Leadership
As AMCEN 2025 approaches, Africa’s faith leaders are issuing a clear call: this is our turning point. It is time to reclaim Africa’s energy future in a way that is fair, equitable, rooted in morality and our shared values.
When conscience takes the floor, we all remember what we are fighting for.
