The inaugural African Climate Summit is set to host over a dozen heads of state from African countries, marking an important step for the continent in addressing a global crisis to which it contributes the least.
The event, launched in Nairobi by Kenyan President William Ruto’s government and the African Union, aims to enhance Africa’s global influence and secure increased funding and support for climate initiatives.
President Ruto emphasized the enormous opportunities presented by the climate crisis, including multibillion-dollar economic prospects, innovative financial structures, Africa’s vast mineral resources, and the goal of shared prosperity. He stressed that the summit is not intended to catalog grievances but rather to seize opportunities.
Despite Africa’s limited contribution to global emissions, there is frustration about being urged to develop cleaner economies, especially when many promised financial aids have not materialized.
Mithika Mwenda of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance pointed out that annual climate assistance to the continent falls far short of the required amount and is only a fraction of some polluting companies’ budgets.
In 2020, over $83 billion in climate financing was provided to poorer countries, a 4 percent increase from the previous year but still below the $100 billion annual goal established in 2009.
Mohamed Adow of Power Shift Africa emphasized the need for funding from wealthy nations that have benefitted from Africa’s struggles to unlock the continent’s abundant clean, renewable energy resources.
The ONE campaign warned in a report before the summit that high-interest rates and insufficient capital from institutions like the World Bank are making debt unsustainable for low-income countries and hindering financing for climate solutions.
Notable participants from outside Africa include John Kerry, the United States government’s climate envoy, and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who will address finance as a central issue in the climate crisis.
While President Ruto emphasized tree-planting in his video welcome for the summit, he did not mention his government’s decision to lift a long-standing ban on commercial logging earlier this year, which raised concerns among environmental watchdogs. The decision is currently under legal challenge, with the government asserting that only mature trees in state-run plantations would be harvested.