Africa seeks more investment on climate

Kenyan President William Ruto launched the inaugural three-day Africa Climate Summit on Monday in the capital Nairobi. The summit seeks to position Africa as an equally important player with global influence and to bring in more financing and support into the continent.

In his opening remarks, Ruto said Africa is the key to accelerating decarbonization of the global economy, and it was time that everyone contributes to catalyze climate action. He also called on climate actors to move from the North versus South conversation, urging them to join forces in ending the climate crisis.

"You have entered the future, a future driven by global partnerships committed to African prosperity, inclusive growth and a habitable planet for all of us," Ruto said. "This is no ordinary summit."

Ruto, currently serving as chair of the African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change, said the summit will usher in the Nairobi Declaration, a document that holds the potential to steer Africa toward a path of radical affirmative action in addressing the pressing issue of climate change.

The meeting, held under the auspices of the African Union, also aims to establish a common African position on addressing the global climate crisis before the COP28 summit in the United Arab Emirates in November.

High-level delegates

The Nairobi gathering was expected to attract more than a dozen African heads of state, with high-level delegates including United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Pakistani President Arif Alvi and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. More than 20,000 delegates from 136 countries were expected to attend the summit, Kenya's Ministry of Environment said.

At Sunday's African Youth Assembly preceding the launch of the summit, African youth expressed the need to be systematically embedded in climate frameworks. Through the Youth Secretariat, they presented the youth's declarations to Ruto.

Elizabeth Wathuti, lead coordinator of the African Youth Climate Assembly, said young people have been at the periphery and excluded from the decision-making process, and called for integration of the youth in the process as opposed to mere inclusion.

After the launch of the summit, Ali Mohamed, a Kenyan delegate and Kenya's special climate envoy, said he is certain the declaration at the end of the conference will have an inclusive resolution that will represent aspirations of the continent.

"This summit presents an opportunity for our leaders to set a bold and ambitious vision for a green economic transformation that optimizes the continent's abundant human and natural resources, and integrates enhanced climate adaptation and mitigation outcomes," Mohamed said.