The
President of the Republic of Kenya and Chair of the Committee of African Heads
of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), H.E. Dr. William Samoei Ruto has called for a fundamental shift in
understanding Africa’s global role on the subject of climate change.
President Ruto made the call in his
Key Note Address on the second day of the 3rd Pan-African Parliament’s Summit
on Climate Policy and Equity held under the theme: “The Continent at the
Crossroads; Graceful just transition and NDCs implementation responsive to
African development aspirations and economic realities”.
The
Summit sought to galvanize a critical mass of stakeholders capable of catalyzing
broad support for pro-poor, just, equitable, locally-led, and science-based
decisions in NDC implementation and overall climate action.
He
observed that the single most important priority commitment that will propel
Africa to lasting security, sustainable stability and shared prosperity is an
opportunity-oriented focus on climate action.
“Our continent’s abundant wealth of natural
resources, immense endowments of untapped green renewable energy and our
youthful demographic profile precisely constitute the fundamental elements
required to mitigate and then reverse climate change while driving a new, green
industrial revolution,” said H.E Dr. Ruto.
“The
need to urgently undertake a fundamental shift in understanding Africa’s global
role is overwhelmingly evident on the subject of climate change. At the moment,
conversations about climate change in Africa focus on the fact that Africa’s
contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions is minimal at only 4 per cent,
yet the impact of consequent climate change on our people is huge. The
discourse also mainly focuses on the important questions of compensation for
loss and damage, and funding for adaptation and resilience.”
“As a matter of fact, many of Africa’s global partners evasively skirt around this necessary conversation,
making
it difficult and
uncomfortable. Explicitly and implicitly, they encourage Africa to focus on managing the
consequences of climate change, since only others in the Global North are understood to possess the capacity to solve the
global
problem of such character
and magnitude. This
unjust
dynamic is unnecessary and
inappropriate, and only serves to hold us back from fulfilling our potential”.
“As the Chair of the
Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), I fully associate myself with the consensus that has evolved among Africa’s leaders, who have refused to be
tethered to
this
unsatisfactory ideology. Instead, we have been pushing a fresh, affirmative and solution-oriented
perspective. And I have come here today to ask you to join us in executing this change of course, articulating a fundamentally
Pan- African principle and amplifying a new ethos that
summons
the world to live, produce
and consume in harmony with
nature.”
President Ruto observed that Africa’s untapped renewable energy potential is more than 50 times the world’s cumulative demand by
2030. “The continent’s untapped solar and wind potential is
rated as
‘super-abundant’
in most African countries – meaning that the potential is over 1,000 times the current
demand.
Nearly 600 million Africans
lack access to electricity, while another 150 million have highly
unreliable access, and 900 million more have no access to clean cooking energy” he
said.
He disclosed another major
opportunity for the continent is in carbon removal using hybrid solutions, including nature-based
and
technological solutions.
“Our continent has the
potential to remove over 300 million tonnes of CO2 per year through nature-based solutions such as landscape restoration, reforestation and
mangrove
forest protection and expansion.
These measures, at a carbon price of $50 per tonne, could provide more than $15
billion in
revenue, more than 85 million jobs and improve millions of livelihoods. Of
course, I am well aware that the prices we currently get - on average $5 per tonne – is unacceptably unfair given that elsewhere, prices go
up to between $100-$200 per tonne.”
H.E Dr. Ruto informed the Summit
participants that the upcoming African Climate Summit in Nairobi this year will
be a major gathering of African and global leaders to deliberate and
consolidate a clear African position and clear African voice as we project our
agenda in the Global Stock take engagements and the buildup to the COP28. The
summit will provide an opportunity to highlight and forge consensus on the
modalities of unlocking Africa’s vast potential to positively impact the
climate agenda and rally the world to tap the numerous opportunities that
Africa presents towards global net-zero ambition.
In
his reaction, the President of the Pan-African Parliament, H.E. Hon. Chief Fortune Charumbira applauded President Ruto describing him as a “rare breed transforming
Africa”.
“Your speech is legendary; we are pleased to have a leader like you in Africa. What you shared with us here today speaks to the Africa of today and tomorrow. We need to make it a priority that your speech is printed in all African Union languages and distributed across the continent. Every African must be aware of your existence and correct ideology you are spreading across the world,” he said.
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