The Kuehne Climate Center, Climate Compatible Growth and the Deep Decarbonization Pathways launch the second phase of a partnership with African researchers at COP31 in Antalya.
At COP31 in Antalya, African researchers and their partners at Kuehne Climate Center (KCC), Climate Compatible Growth (CCG) and the Deep Decarbonization Pathways (DDP) are launching the second phase of their joint work on freight policy modelling in Africa. CCG is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and DDP is an international network of national climate policy and modeling experts led by the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI). Within the partnership, KCC – an initiative of the Kühne Foundation founded in 2024 – convenes and supports the emerging community of practice, while CCG and IDDRI co-lead the research and the engagement with African modellers. The long-term aim is a community of modellers in Africa whose analysis shapes real decisions: how freight corridors are planned, how industrial growth is decarbonised, and how regional integration and climate goals are pursued together.
The collaboration started in June 2026 with the Regional Expert Workshop on Freight and Logistics Policy Modelling in Africa, hosted by CARISCA at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana. The workshop showed that modelling capacity already exists on the continent but is not widely recognised, and that the main constraints are capacity and the lack of freight-specific data rather than new tools.
In this second phase, the partners are preparing a joint review of freight policy modelling across sub-Saharan Africa: which models and data exist, which policy questions they can answer, and what decision-makers need to plan national transitions and regional freight corridors. African researchers from Ghana, Uganda, Botswana and Nigeria are key partners in the review, coordinated with IDDRI for DDP and the University of Strathclyde for CCG. Webinars will keep the wider community involved, and an open inventory of existing models will be published for anyone to use.
The review is an intermediate step. Its findings will inform the community’s next gathering in 2027 and the longer-term work on national and corridor modelling and capacity building.
Meet us at COP31 (Blue Zone)
- Wednesday 11 November, 11:00 to 12:00, SDG Pavilion: ‘Avoid & Shift transformations for freight development’, hosted by IDDRI and SLOCAT
- Friday 13 November, 16:30 to 18:00, Transport Pavilion: ‘Transforming freight transport through the UN Decade on Sustainable Transport’, hosted by KCC and IDDRI
- Friday 13 November, 18:00 to 19:30, Transport Pavilion: Freight Mixer, hosted by KCC, IDDRI and Catalyst Mobility
Freight and logistics modellers in Africa who would like to join the community are warmly invited to contact us.
Contacts at COP31
- Yann Briand, Deep Decarbonization Pathways Initiative : yann.briand@iddri.org
- Holger Dalkmann, Climate Compatible Growth: hdalkmann@sustain2030.net
- Olivia, Lamenya, Kuehne Climate Center: olivia.lamenya@kuehne-foundation.net
