Nairobi — The Africa Climate Summit has adopted a Nairobi Declaration calling for decarbonization and a just multilateral finance architecture as the world races to combat climate change.
The leaders who gathered in Nairobi for the three-day climate event termed the streamlining of the financial framework as crucial to achieving the necessary levels of urgency, scale, and inclusivity in addressing the continent's climate challenges.
The declaration endorsed on Wednesday called for concrete steps to reform the multilateral financial system, with a specific focus on enhancing resilience to climate shocks.
"We call for concrete action on the proposals to reform the multilateral financial system currently under discussion specifically to (a) build resilience to climate shocks, including better deployment of the SDR liquidity mechanism and disaster suspension clauses," read the declaration in part.
In a bid to bolster Africa's capacity to combat climate change, the leaders called upon the global community to fulfill its long-standing commitment to provide $100 billion annually in climate finance, a pledge made 14 years ago at the Copenhagen conference.
Further, leaders urged the international community to expedite efforts to reduce emissions and commit to a fair and accelerated process of phasing down coal.
Loss and Damage facility
They emphasized the need to abolish all fossil fuel subsidies and operationalize the Loss and Damage facility, an agreement reached at COP27.
Africa urged the international community to accelerate all efforts to reduce emissions to align with goals set forth in the Paris Agreement
"We call for climate-positive investments that catalyse a growth trajectory, anchored in the industries poised to transform our planet and enabling African countries to achieve stable middle-income status by 2050," read the declaration in part.
The leaders emphasised that Africa possesses both the potential and the ambition to be a vital component of the global solution to climate change.
"It is home to the world's youngest and fastest-growing workforce, coupled with massive untapped renewable energy potential, abundant natural assets and entrepreneurial spirit, our continent has the fundamentals to pioneer a climate-positive pathway as a thriving, cost-competitive industrial hub with the capacity to support other regions in achieving their net zero ambitions," they said.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Commenting on Declaration, African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson Moussa Faki described the summit a "success."
"The Nairobi Declaration has been adopted unanimously and by acclamation," Faki announced.
While thanking President William Ruto and Kenya for hosting the summit, the AUC Chairperson challenged the member states and international partners to focus on the implementation of the declaration for the good of the continent and the world.
"To decide is good, but the implementation is better," he emphasized.
President Ruto hailed the summit as a testament to Africa's vital role in safeguarding the planet.
"The declaration we make to the world today defines and amplifies the African position on the way forward in climate action and the fundamentals that the international community must attend to in order to ensure that humanities' economic and ecological imperative are effectively, coherently unsustainably achieved," Ruto said.
