The Africa Climate Summit opened in Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday with a call for urgent action to address the climate crisis. The three-day summit, hosted by the Kenyan government and the African Union Commission, brings together leaders and experts from across the continent to discuss how to build a climate-resilient future for Africa.

The summit is focused on climate action financing, the green growth agenda for Africa, climate action and economic development and global capital optimisation. 

In the area of renewable energy, delegates will explore ways of accelerating the transition to clean energy in Africa. In the area of financing, they will discuss how to mobilise the resources needed to implement climate action.

Africa is already facing more severe climate change than most other parts of the world. (Photo: iStock)

The summit is also expected to produce a declaration that will outline the continent’s priorities for climate action. The declaration will be presented at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai in November.

“You have not just stepped into a conference hall; you have entered the future – a future ripe with potential, driven by global partnerships committed to African prosperity, inclusive growth and a liveable planet for all of us,” said Kenyan President William Ruto in his opening remarks to heads of state, climate ministers and other delegates.

“We are not here just to talk about Africa or climate change in the usual way, which often accentuates our divisions. You all remember the North versus South, developed versus developing, polluters versus victims and the whole of that conversation. Even within our own government, sometimes we have conversations around economic development so badly needed for us to achieve stable and dignified livelihoods, and it’s often cast as a tradeoff with environmental stewardship, as if they are mutually exclusive when, in fact, they are positively reinforcing.”

Ruto continued: “Let me be clear, these conversations are necessary. Africa’s carbon footprint remains small, but the human toll of climate change is disproportionately high. The urgency to address loss and damage and to configure appropriate financial mechanisms for resilience grows with each extreme weather event and each climate change-induced insecurity.”

According to the International Energy Agency’s Africa Energy Outlook 2022 report, “Africa is already facing more severe climate change than most other parts of the world, despite bearing the least responsibility for the problem.

“With nearly one-fifth of the world’s population today, Africa accounts for less than 3% of the world’s energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to date and has the lowest emissions per capita of any region.

“Africans are already disproportionately experiencing the negative effects of climate change, including water stress, reduced food production, increased frequency of extreme weather events and lower economic growth – all of which are fuelling mass migration and regional instability.

“For all of these difficulties, the global clean energy transition holds new promise for Africa’s economic and social development,” the agency’s report continues.

Activists shared these sentiments.

Zaki Mamdoo, climate activist and coordinator with the global StopEacop campaign.(Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

Zaki Mamdoo, climate activist and coordinator with the global StopEacop campaign said that “the African Climate Summit could provide the platform needed for the continent to dramatically shift its trajectory and future – from one that is set to bear the brunt of climate collapse, to one of energy-security and prosperity driven by decentralised and people-centred renewables.

“For this to happen, African leaders will need to rise to the occasion and make firm commitments to significantly upscale renewable energy developments, while resisting and withdrawing any and all support for exploitative and destructive projects like the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop).

“This is an imperative that will define the fate of all our people and, if done in a manner that is just and equitable, would serve to address our interlocking crises of hunger, joblessness, poverty and exclusion.

“Going into this summit, we are calling on African leaders to embrace the interests and will of the people and, in doing so, we would expect them to throw their weight behind renewables and push for the redirection of financing to renewable energy.”

Patricia Bekoe, a climate activist with 350 Ghana Reducing Our Carbon, said: “As Africans, we need to plant seeds of change that ignite a green legacy for generations to come, that alleviates energy poverty while addressing the climate crisis. 

“It is crucial that we address the key barriers facing renewable energy in Africa and facilitate the widespread deployment of renewable energy rooted in justice.

“The summit offers a chance for African nations to jointly devise measures to bolster clean energy goals across the region and set the stage for ambitious global renewable energy targets.” DM