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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Clim.

Sec. Climate Adaptation

Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fclim.2025.1651147

Climate philanthropy as a catalyst for advancing the renewable energy transition and climate resilience in Africa

Provisionally accepted
  • 1Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
  • 2Other

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Introduction Africa faces the dual challenges of energy poverty and climate change, necessitating urgent solutions to ensure sustainable development. While renewable energy offers a viable alternative to fossil fuels, its adoption is hindered by financial constraints. Philanthropic funding has emerged as a crucial catalyst for accelerating renewable energy transitions and enhancing climate resilience. The main aim of this study was to investigate the role of philanthropic funding in renewable energy to address climate change in Africa. Methods This study employed a bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review guided by the PRISMA framework, with relevant peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2014 and 2024 identified and screened using the Scopus database. The Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, and Context (PICOC) framework. The SALSA framework was used to guide Search, Appraisal, Synthesis, and Analysis of the selected literature was followed. Results Findings indicate an increasing climate change adaptation, with South Africa and Kenya leading research output in Africa, followed by the USA and the UK. Environmental science was the primary subject area, and Nature was the most influential journal, followed by Climate Policy. Four key thematic areas were identified: adaptation and resilience building, low-carbon transition, governance and financial flows, and agriculture and food security. Despite increasing scholarly attention, significant funding gaps persist, particularly in adaptation-focused initiatives and renewable energy infrastructure, while challenges such as inadequate regulatory frameworks and coordination issues continue to hinder effective philanthropic interventions. Discussion Future research should examine the socio-economic implications of climate philanthropic funding to maximise impact, assess its effectiveness in different regions, and develop context-specific climate adaptation strategies. Strengthening governance structures, fostering multi-stakeholder collaborations, and aligning philanthropic investments with national climate policies are critical to enhancing the sustainability of renewable energy projects. This study underscores the need for increased philanthropic engagement in Africa's energy transition to address energy poverty, mitigate climate vulnerabilities and promote long-term resilience, which will all go a long way in addressing SDG 7. It highlights that, once gaps are identified, climate philanthropy can complement public finance and drive inclusive and long-term climate action across vulnerable sectors such as agriculture, energy, and food security.

Keywords: Climate Change, Philanthropic financing, energy access, climate adaptation, Greenenergy, Green growth and low-carbon

Received: 20 Jun 2025; Accepted: 10 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Kwanhi, Kagande, Van Den Berg, Mago and Makuwira. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Thandoluhle Kwanhi, s226234754@mandela.ac.za

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