AFRICA: On the last day of the Africa Climate Summit, 6 September, Kenyan President William Ruto announced that African political and business leaders have unanimously adopted the Nairobi Declaration.
The declaration, in part, sets to raise US$23 billion for green growth, mitigation and adaptation to address the effects of climate change on the continent. Africa is regularly marred by adverse weather conditions with broad consensus that despite still having the lowest global carbon emissions (4.0 person of the total emissions), it faces severe risks with respect to climatic changes. Part of the declaration is for Africa’s renewable generation capacity to increase from 56GW in 2022 to at least 300GW by 2030 as it aims to meet both the energy deficit and its broader targets to go green.
Some of the sizeable deals announced during the summit include:
- US$4.5 billion commitment from the UAE to fund renewable energy
- US$1 billion from the AfDB Group and global centre on adaptation
- €60 million of debt swap between Kenya and Germany
- US$200 million from Climate Asset Management in green projects across the continent
- US$60 million rural investment in Burundi
- US$30 million from the US to fund security and climate resilience
- US$22.8 million from the Bezos Earth Fund for locally-led restoration in Africa
During the summit, African leaders further requested that the developed nations should honour the commitments that were made during the Paris Agreement to provide US$100bn annually towards climate finance. Africa Climate Week is one of four key regional climate events that takes place ahead of the COP28 which will be hosted in UAE between 30 November and 12 December 2023. While Africa Climate Week will continue as an annual event, the summit is expected to take place every two years.
