Sharm El Sheikh — Governor Johnson Sakaja has announced that Nairobi will next year host the Climate Action conference.

Governor Sakaja made this announcement during a luncheon roundtable discussion on "Mobilizing Action to Scale Carbon Removal Solutions through the Global Carbon Removal Partnership" (GCRP) which was launched during the COP26 in Scotland as a vehicle to spur innovation and scale up the full range of natural and technological carbon removal solutions around the world.

"I want to take this opportunity to extend H.E President Wiliam Ruto's invitation to the continental summit on climate action in Nairobi, next year," he stated.

The Governors roundtable discussion focused on Carbon removal as an integral part of meeting the Paris Agreement of limiting the average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

"Cities are and will, in the not-so-distant future, become a critical arena and frontline of climate action. Urban areas will account for over half of the global increase in carbon emissions by 2030 with the share of the world's population living in cities expected to rise from the current 55% to 80% by 2050," he stated.

Sakaja gave an account of Nairobi's commitment to rolling out mass tree planting in public open spaces, including the Nairobi rivers riparian reserves.

"Nairobi has formed meaningful and strong working partnership with the Kenya Forest Service(KFS) among other key stakeholders. These partnerships are aimed at improving Nairobi's tree cover in order to aid carbon sequestration," he stated.

The Governor emphasized on the importance of community involvement, sensitization and environmental education, in realization of the efforts.

He welcomed discussions and partnerships on any technological solutions to Carbon removal for the betterment of Nairobi City.

The event was co-hosted by the Presidency of the Republic of Kenya and the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University.