Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – September 8, 2025

At a pivotal side event of the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2), Liberia’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Executive Director, Dr. Emmanuel K. Urey Yarkpawolo, delivered a powerful keynote address urging African leaders, civil society, and global partners to place justice at the heart of climate action. Speaking at the Centering Justice in Climate Action session organized by the African Climate Platform, Dr. Urey Yarkpawolo also drew attention to the urgent request before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights to issue an advisory opinion on states’ climate obligations.

In his remarks, Dr. Urey Yarkpawolo emphasized that Africa’s development needs cannot be divorced from the rights and dignity of its people. He highlighted the continent’s urgent need for schools, safe drinking water, farm-to-market roads, and decent jobs, while condemning models of development that enrich elites at the expense of communities and the environment. “Development that promotes injustice and undermines livelihoods is no development at all,” he stressed.

The Liberian climate advocate described Africa as standing at the epicenter of climate injustice. Despite contributing less than four percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, he said, African nations are already bearing the brunt of severe droughts, coastal erosion, biodiversity loss, declining harvests, and displacement of communities. In Liberia, he noted, farmers are struggling with reduced yields, coastal residents face increasing threats, and the country continues to battle energy poverty alongside the challenges of nation-building.

Framing climate change as both an environmental and human rights crisis, Dr. Urey Yarkpawolo pointed to the erosion of fundamental rights—life, health, food, water, and dignity—enshrined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. He criticized the marginalization of African voices in global climate negotiations and called for accountability, equitable financing, and a just transition that prioritizes vulnerable groups, including women, children, Indigenous peoples, and future generations.

Central to his message was strong support for the African Climate Platform’s push for the African Court to clarify states’ obligations under regional treaties such as the African Charter, the Maputo Protocol, and the Kampala Convention in the context of climate change. This, he said, could ensure that corporations are held accountable, environmental defenders protected, and development pursued in ways that safeguard both people and ecosystems. “The Court’s opinion can be a beacon of clarity and justice,” Dr. Urey Yarkpawolo declared. “It can affirm that Africa will not be a dumping ground for dirty industries, nor a stage where wealth is extracted without accountability.”

Closing his keynote, Dr. Urey Yarkpawolo urged African governments and citizens to unite behind climate justice, reminding the audience that “climate justice is people’s justice — and Africa’s future depends on it.”