Jump to navigation

Kenya

Setting out Africa's case ahead of the UN's COP28 summit

Just 15 out of 54 African leaders are due to attend the critical climate summit in Nairobi on 4-8 September

The UN and the Kenya government have promised that a string of multi-million-dollar green investment deals will be signed at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi which starts on 4 September, a gathering where African leaders are to set their stall ahead of the COP28 climate summit in the United Arab Emirates.

Lobbyists and experts have called on the summit to prioritise the green energy transition. At least 15 African presidents are expected at the summit themed, 'Driving green growth and climate finance solutions for Africa and the world.'

Those are likely to be dominated by carbon trading  nature-based investments, where countries agree bilateral deals with donors to write off debt in exchange for green investment of an equivalent sum. 

Leaders are expected to sign a 'Nairobi Declaration on Green Growth and Climate Finance' which is likely to be at the heart of their push for financing commitments by wealthier countries to be respected at COP28 (AC Vol 63 No 23, Delegates haggle in Egypt as the planet burns).

It is also likely to signal which African states are next in line to follow South Africa and Senegal in agreeing Just Energy Transition Partnerships to phase out fossil fuels. A 'Pledging and Commitment Framework' will be used to encourage leaders to pledge their own national carbon reduction and green energy commitments.

Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, has said that Africa will need $2.7 trillion by 2030 to address climate issues.

However, little detail has emerged on what the 'loss and damage' fund, to compensate countries hardest hit by climate change – the agreement of which was the main breakthrough at last year's COP summit - will look like despite delegates giving a November deadline for working out the size and sources of the fund (AC Vol 64 No 3, Finance and energy access come first).



Related Articles

Finance and energy access come first

The IMF, World Bank and G20 face growing pressure to raise funds for climate goals ahead of the UN COP28 summit in Dubai

Arguments over emissions cuts, climate finance and developing economies' access to energy are set to dominate the UN COP28 Climate summit in Dubai in November. Despite sharpening geopolitical...


More unga than chungwa

A year after the flawed elections, much of the fire has gone out of the once radical opposition Orange Democratic Movement. Odinga, the firebrand ODM leader, held a meeting for his constituents in Nairobi’s Kibera’s slum to thank them for voting for him. He yelled the rallying cry ‘ODM!’, expecting the crowd to respond as it used to ‘Chungwa!’ (Orange!), the party colour and symbol, but they roared back ‘Unga!’, the maize flour that makes up the staple diet of ugali.

Politics is now taking second place to overwhelming concerns about the economy. Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement had promised lower rents and food prices, but its...


Confused war aims cause alarm

Kenya’s military incursion into Somalia is less than a month old but is already the subject of contradictory statements by the government and its Western allies. Al Haraka al Shabaab al Mujahideen is under threat from the Kenya Armed Forces and their allies’ Special Forces and air power but the invasion also offers opportunities. Al Shabaab may be able to recoup some recent losses if Lower and Middle Juba end up controlled by Kenyan surrogate forces that alienate local people. The offensive shows, however, that the United States and its allies have faith in a military solution to the Somali problem. Kenyan forces are pushing towards Kismayo in a land assault that will combine with attacks by French and US forces from the sea to spell possible defeat for Al Shabaab in the key port. Yet with no political solution on offer, Al Shabaab could revive.

Kenya’s intervention in Somalia was first announced on 15 October by Minister of Internal Security George Kinuthia Saitoti and Minister of Defence Mohamed Yusuf Haji, and it...


Ruto struggles to regain control

Weeks of protests sparked by punitive tax hikes have morphed into a wider revolt, pushing the President on the defensive

The sense of chaos coming from State House in Nairobi is palpable. Having fired his government and accepted the resignation of Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome, President...