Egypt will present its vision on the future course of climate action to Africa’s first climate summit, due to convene in Nairobi today under the theme of “Motivating Green Growth and Finding Solutions to Climate Finance for Africa and the World”.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has deputised Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli to attend the summit and deliver Egypt’s statement to the event’s plenary which is expected to bring together many heads of state and government, senior officials, youth representatives, entrepreneurs and civil society.
Egypt’s participation in the Nairobi summit acquires special significance in light of its presidency of the world climate summit (COP27) that it hosted in Sharm el-Sheikh last November, the outputs of which have included in the foremost promoting the concept of climate justice and a landmark decision to introduce a loss and damage fund to aid countries most impacted by climate change.
Prime Minister Madbouli flew in to Nairobi yesterday to take part in summit events. Irrigation and Water Resources Minister Hani Sewilam also travelled to the Kenyan capital yesterday to attend the summit.
In statements before leaving Cairo, Minister Sewilam stressed that Egypt’s participation in the Nairobi summit reflects its keenness on maintaining contacts and coordination with other countries with the aim of developing a unified African vision on climate issues in preparation for COP28, which is due to convene in the United Arab Emirates later this year.
Co-organised with the African Union, the Nairobi summit is expected to build on the successes and roadmap of COP27 held in Sharm-el-Sheikh.
In particular, the Nairobi summit will explore means to promote green energies and secure finance solutions not only for Africa but also for the rest of the world. It also comes at a critical time when Africa is faced with severe climate-related challenges – drought, desertification, severer cyclones, leading to displacement, migration and food crises.
Coinciding with the 2023 Africa Climate Week, the summit aims to drive collective action to combat climate change, bearing in mind that Africa is most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change even though it is the smallest contributor to global emissions, with total emissions not exceeding 4 per cent.
The summit also intends to draw international attention to the great potential of the African continent in its abundant resources for renewable energy, minerals and farming.
Since finance and investments are part and parcel of climate action, the summit also gives top priority to fostering partnerships with multilateral development institutions, the private sector and philanthropic entities.
This summit will focus on the following areas – funding, the Green Growth Agenda for Africa, climate action and economic development, and, finally, global capital optimisation.
Kenyan Environment Minister Soipan Tuya said the summit would seek to change the narrative from that which regards Africa as is a mere victim of climate change into Africa’s readiness to attract investment to lead the world in addressing climate change.
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