Africa has commenced its first climate summit under the theme “Driving Green Growth and Climate Finance Solutions for Africa and the World.”
Kenyan President William Ruto’s government and the African Union launched the meeting today in Nairobi, Republic of Kenya, and it will last till 6th September 2023.
More than a dozen African heads of state are due to attend the first African Climate Summit in order to discuss the continent’s approach to climate change.
“Africa should be part of the solution to global warming, rather than a victim,” said Ruto. The summit aims to come up with a common plan to present to other world leaders at a major UN climate summit on September 18th and 20th this year.
Just this morning, protesters gathered to demand action on climate change, in the streets of downtown Nairobi, Kenya, as the Africa Climate Summit begins.
According to the U.S. government’s climate envoy, John Kerry, “Of 20 countries most affected by the climate crisis, 17 are here in Africa.” In some African countries, nearly 600 million people lack access to electricity in spite of the huge potential for solar and other renewable power that the continent has.
The U.N. has also estimated that loss and damage in Africa caused by climate change are projected to be between $290 billion and $440 billion, depending on the degree of warming. With these challenges, Ruto claims there are immense opportunities as well. Mohamed Adow of Power Shift Africa said ahead of the summit that Africa had an abundance of clean, renewable energy, and it was vital that we use this to power our future prosperity. But to unlock it, Africa needed funding from countries that have got rich off our suffering.
Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, has noted that “[The UN] needed to immediately see the delivery of the $100 billion of climate finance pledged annually by rich countries to developing ones.
