Kenya has called for financial support to help it set up the Africa Climate Summit Secretariat in Nairobi. Environment CS Aden Duale yesterday said his ministry has identified offi ce space and is planning to make it operational.
“We are working closely with the African Union Commission to second staff to the secretariat,” he told delegates gathered for climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan. Present were Prime CS Musalia Mudavadi and AU Commissioner Josefa Sacko.
Duale described the proposed secretariat as ‘a beacon of hope and resilience for the continent’. He called upon partners, allies and friends to deepen their commitment and join the country on the journey to establishing the secretariat.
“Let us work hand-in-hand to mobilise the support and the resources needed to fully operationalise the implementation roadmap,” he said.
Africa held the first-ever climate summit in Nairobi a year ago. It adopted a collective call to action for resilience, sustainability and equity, all embodied in the Nairobi Leaders’ Declaration on Climate Change.
The summit endorsed Kenya’s offer to be the champion of implementing the Nairobi Declaration and to set up and host the secretariat, which will be its technical arm for implementation.
The secretariat was to be operationalised jointly by the Ministry of Environment and the AU Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment.
It was also agreed that the Africa Climate Summit will be a biannual event. President William Ruto later convened a meeting in which Kenya and the African Union Commission Secretariat presented the post-Africa Climate Summit implementation roadmap.
It also presented the governance structure and the ACS Secretariat Office offer for consideration. Mudavadi said the bold commitments in Nairobi have since been translated to four key initiatives.
He cited accelerated partnership for renewables in Africa and the African Green Industrialisation Initiative. There is also the Africa Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance, which brings together governments, research institutions and the development community to promote sustainable farming practices.
“We urge for reforms on the current global financial architecture,” Mudavadi said. “Including by introducing debt for-climate swaps, climate-specific funds and restructured lending terms to enable Africa respond effectively to the climatic emergencies.”
AU Commissioner Josefa Sacko said African countries are among those hit the hardest by the climate crisis despite having contributed the least to it.
She said that to support AU member states in assessing climate finance and attracting investment into green development projects, the commission established a climate finance unit as part of the implementation of the Green Recovery Action Plan.
