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African Climate Summit underscores ways and means for financing costly Green Energy programs of poorer countries

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Head of states and delegates pose for a group photo, during the official opening of the Africa Climate Summit at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. The first African Climate Summit opened with heads of state and others asserting a stronger voice on a global issue that affects the continent of 1.3 billion people the most, even though they contribute to it the least. (AP Photo/Khalil Senosi)

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The Summit could generate momentum for a series of key gatherings leading to a UN climate summit starting in November. Prior to that, there is the G20 meeting in New Delhi this weekend.

The landmark African climate summit ended yesterday(Wednesday)  after leaders adopted a declaration highlighting the continent’s potential as a green powerhouse. Kenyan President William Ruto vehemently advocated Africa’s switch to clean energy. The continent reels from climate-related disasters, which would have forced the countries to give focused attention to climate change.

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The Summit could generate momentum for a series of key gatherings leading to a  UN climate summit starting in November. Prior to that, there is the G20 meeting in New Delhi this weekend. The Nairobi declaration calls for a new financing architecture that is responsive to Africa’s needs including debt restructuring and relief. The high cost of financing climate change and other developmental programs has been a concern for Africa.  It also asks rich carbon polluters to honor climate pledges to poorer nations and urges world leaders to back a proposed carbon tax on fossil fuel trade, maritime transport, and aviation.

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The 54-nation bloc is vulnerable to the growing impacts of climate change.  The summit focused on calls to unlock investment in clean energy. The summit saw funding pledges worth US$23 billion for green growth, mitigation, and adaptation efforts across the continent, from different sources. The COP28 talks are to be continued in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates in November, where the world will take stock of the inadequate efforts to slash planet-heating emissions.

As climate change accelerates and pressure mounts on companies and countries to give more focus to that, demand for carbon credits has exploded. Cash-strapped African nations want a much bigger share of a US$2-billion market that is forecast to grow five-fold by 2030.

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Africa only produces 11 percent of the world’s offsets.  It also has the planet’s second-largest rainforest and tracts of carbon-absorbing ecosystems like mangroves and peatlands. Kenyan President William Ruto, who hosted the climate summit in Nairobi this week, said Africa’s carbon sinks were an unparalleled economic goldmine.

The UN-endorsed African Carbon Market Initiative, launched at COP27 in November, believes 300 million credits could be generated annually on the continent by 2030 –- a 19-fold increase on current volumes. For Kenya, this would mean more than 600,000 jobs and US$600 million in annual revenue. However, such massive programs need increased financing options at low cost.