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Africa Climate Summit: A hope for clean energy
Kenya’s President William Ruto delivers his opening remarks during the Africa Climate Summit 2023 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi on September 4, 2023. PHOTO/AFP
What you need to know:
- To achieve green growth, Africa has committed to moving quickly to develop the necessary instruments and institutions.
- Kenyan President says Africa has the capacity to decarbonise.
The Africa Climate Summit has presented opportunities for Africa to lead the world on a green growth pathway.
While delivering his speech at the summit, which kicked off on Monday, President William Ruto, who also chairs the Heads of State Committee on Climate Change,said the continent has the potential to be self-sufficient with its huge mix of renewable energy resources.
“This African moment is a global moment, we are there in word and deed. I urge everyone at this summit to show bold leadership in support of African aspirations. To achieve green growth, Africa has committed to moving quickly to develop the necessary instruments and institutions, with Kenya, as an outcome of the summit, offering to host the Global Centre for Adaptation (GCA),’’ he said yesterday.
Kenya has 92 percent of its power being renewable, and is on its way to achieving 100 percent by 2030 and a 100 Giga Watt grid, entirely renewable, by 2040, according to Mr Ruto.
Key highlights so far
African heads of State called for a fair and equitable global financial system, reduction of Africa’s debt burden, decrease in the capital paid by African countries in comparison to developed countries, unlocking investment flows and bringing down trade barriers.
“This is the continent with the highest investment potential. We are only limited by two things: high-interest rates for development capital,’’ President Ruto said, adding that nine countries in Africa are already in debt distress, 13 are at high risk and 17 are at medium risk.
“How do we get Africa to pay five times more?” President Ruto wondered. “We are not asking to be favoured [or] treated differently... We need a conversation.”
$650b for carbon markets
One of the deals already announced at the summit is the UAE $450 million and a further $200m pledge by Climate Assets Management to the African Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI).
Mr John Kerry, the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, said carbon markets offer opportunities to attract investments through various means, including concessional funds.
“But they have to be in the billions for them to work, and they should have integrity,” he said.
Carbon markets are trading systems in which carbon credits are sold and bought. Companies or individuals can use carbon markets to compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing carbon credits from entities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Mr Mohamed Adow, the director of Power Shift Africa, said: “The very design of these markets is for us to proffer pollution permits to wealthy industrialised countries and companies, locking them into a high emissions pathway and shifting the burden to African people. It is actually a new form of colonialism.”
