ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — African leaders met Monday in the Ethiopian capital for the second Africa Climate Summit, where they proposed a new way of thinking about climate adaptation funding and called for the continent to be viewed not as a victim, but as an investment opportunity.
With a population of more than one billion, African countries have been hit hardest by climate disasters such as droughts and floods, which have made millions of people vulnerable. In 2023, at the inaugural summit in Kenya, African leaders made ambitious plans to increase renewable energy, but funding constraints have slowed implementation.
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African heads of state and government representatives walk into the plenary hall for the opening of the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Artists walk on stilts during the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, September 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Dancers perform during the opening of the High-Level Leaders Summit at the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) at the Addis International Convention Center (AICC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, center, and Kenyan President William Ruto, left, walk with other African heads of state and government representatives ahead of the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
This year’s summit aims to unlock climate financing and accelerate Africa-led solutions and adaptation.
It is “time to replace climate aid with climate investment," Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said during the summit's opening ceremony, which was attended by heads of state from African nations as well as business leaders, climate scientists, activists and other stakeholders.
Amos Wemanya, a climate action campaigner with Greenpeace Africa, said the climate adaptation funding gap can be met by taxing polluters.
"We need to tax the polluters and the super-rich to generate the resources needed to make them pay for the climate plunder they are causing the continent,” he said.
Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, the chairperson of the African Union — a continental body of 55 member states and a co-host of the summit — proposed a framework of “climate justice” to help vulnerable countries grappling with the dual challenges of climate change and debt.
The summit declaration, which will outline Africa’s priorities and proposed solutions, is expected to be finalized this week, during the three-day gathering. It will then be presented at COP30 in November. COP30 president, Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, attended the Africa summit and expressed his solidarity.
Ethiopia, the host of this year's summit, will inaugurate the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project along the Blue Nile on Tuesday. It is expected to produce more than 5,000 megawatts, doubling Ethiopia’s current output, part of which will be exported to neighboring countries.
In July, the country launched a national campaign to plant 700 million trees in one day as part of an ambitious conservation initiative that aims to plant 50 billion trees by 2026.
AP’s Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
African heads of state and government representatives walk into the plenary hall for the opening of the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Artists walk on stilts during the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, September 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Dancers perform during the opening of the High-Level Leaders Summit at the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) at the Addis International Convention Center (AICC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, center, and Kenyan President William Ruto, left, walk with other African heads of state and government representatives ahead of the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — UConn starting guard Solo Ball limped from room to room Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium, a protective boot on his sprained left foot. Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg didn't even do that much because of an injured left ankle and an injured left knee.
Just one day before the teams meet in Monday night's national championship game, the big question for both was the health of two key playmakers.
Neither was expected to practice Sunday as they focused instead on getting as much treatment as possible, even as teammates and the players themselves insisted the stars would play Monday night. The coaches, Dan Hurley and Dusty May, also tried to lighten the mood before college basketball's biggest game of the season.
“I’m sure he’ll give it a go tomorrow, but that will be entirely up to him and the medical staff,” May said as he updated the playing status of Lendeborg, a first team All-American. “He’ll tell me if he can go and we were laughing because he played the second half, but he played the second half like a 38-year-old at the YMCA — a really good 38-year-old at the YMCA. So whatever version we get of Yaxel we get, it’s going to be somebody that helps us play better basketball.”
Lendeborg played just five minutes of the first half before getting hurt in Saturday's 91-73 victory over Arizona, which sent Michigan (36-3) to its first title game since 2018. He finished with 11 points and three rebounds in 15 minutes and made two 3-pointers in the second half.
But he hardly resembled the guy who was named the Big Ten's Player of the Year.
When Lendeborg was asked whether missing Monday night's game was a possibility, Lendeborg emphatically told reporters in the locker room, “absolutely not.” He reinjured the ankle he initially hurt in the Big Ten Tournament championship game. The knee injury was a new one and Lendeborg said, at worst, he was told it was a sprained medial collateral ligament. May said MRI results came back clean Sunday.
Still, the combination prevented him from doing the traditional between-games media circuit.
While everyone saw Lendeborg's injury Saturday's, Ball's injury seemed to surprise everyone including Hurley, who said he saw Ball in a walking boot before being told what happened.
Ball has played a key role in helping UConn (34-5) reach its third title game in four years, averaging 12.9 points and starting all 38 games he appeared in this season.
He scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half of Saturday’s 91-72 victory over Illinois — after getting hurt in the first half — and told reporters played through the injury on pure adrenaline. The injury occurred when Ball and teammate Tarris Reed Jr. got tangled.
“I've just been doing everything I can to take care of it,” Ball said Sunday. “It's just a bump in the road, so you've got to keep moving forward. Pain is temporary. People say it pushes you through your toughest performance, so it's only what you're made of. This is the championship game.”
Hurley had other questions, though, as UConn attempts to win its third national championship in four years and the seventh in school history. The Huskies are tied with North Carolina for the third-highest total of national championships, behind UCLA (11) and Kentucky (eight).
UConn has won all six of its titles since 1999 and remains hopeful Ball will be a go on Monday.
“I think we’ll see whether this turns into — it’s going to be tough to get an MRI on Easter, on a Sunday,” Hurley said. “I don’t know what the hospitals are like in Indiana. Hospitals stay open.”
Michigan, apparently, had already resolved that issue.
But the Wolverines don't expect Lendeborg's injury to change their mission, snapping a four-game losing streak in NCAA Tournament title games and capturing the school's first national title since 1989 and the second in program history. Nor do they expect it to change their game plan.
“I'll still play the four outs,” Michigan forward Morez Johnson Jr. said. “And Yax is fine.”
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg (23) falls after play against Arizona during the first half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
UConn guard Solo Ball (1) celebrates his basket as Illinois guard Andrej Stojakovic (2) looks on during the second half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg reacts after an injury on the court during the first half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game against Arizona at the Final Four, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
UConn's Solo Ball (1) dunks as Illinois' Andrej Stojakovic, left, watches during the second half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
