This study examines the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of four Horn of Africa countries (Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti) through a comparative qualitative analysis. Drawing on directed content analysis, the research conceptualizes NDCs not merely as technical policy instruments, but as political and developmental texts shaped by structural vulnerability and global governance dynamics. The findings reveal that climate policy in the region is predominantly framed through adaptation, related with core development priorities such as food security, water management, and livelihood protection. Mitigation efforts, while present, remain conditional and uneven, often embedded within narratives of green transition that are constrained by financial, technological, and institutional limitations. Across all four cases, climate commitments are strongly dependent on external finance, technology transfer, and Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems, indicating the emergence of structurally mediated development pathways. The increasing prominence of Loss and Damage discourse highlights the limits of existing climate policy frameworks and foregrounds issues of climate justice and global inequality. The study argues that climate governance in the Horn of Africa reflects a broader configuration of development under conditions of dependency and vulnerability. In this regard, the anticipated COP32 in Ethiopia represents a critical opportunity to advance more equitable and context-sensitive climate policy frameworks.

Keywords: Climate change, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), Horn of Africa, Climate Justice, Climate Policy