The Declaration of the First Africa Action Summit, held on the sidelines of the 22nd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) stresses that Africa, which has contributed the least to global greenhouse gas emissions, is the continent most affected by climate change and its impacts on its territories, the consequences of which may jeopardize peace, security and sustainable development in Africa. It also says that African regions have voluntarily launched adaptation and mitigation initiatives with a view to enhancing resilience and promoting sustainable development

It reaffirms the importance of adequate implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, based on the Rio principles, particularly that of "common but differentiated responsibilities" to rise to the challenge of climate change,  a concrete and substantial commitment of African countries to contribute to global efforts to combat climate change; the ambition to make climate action a lever of emergence in order to build an inclusive, sustainable development model that meets the legitimate aspirations of African populations and safeguards the interests of future generations;

The Declaration underlines the desire to work together collectively towards an Africa that is resilient to climate change and that shapes its destiny, through sub-regional and regional approaches.