Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

President William Ruto yesterday officially opened the inaugural three-day Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi which is being co-hosted by Kenya and the African Union (AU).

In his address to the Summit that seeks to address the climate change crisis, President Ruto noted that Africa holds the key to accelerating the de-carbonisation of the global economy.

“We are not just a continent rich in resources; we are a powerhouse of untapped potential, eager to engage and fairly compete in the global markets,” he said.

The Head of State said that Africa must now rise above the challenges posed by climate change and be at the forefront since it emits the lowest levels of carbon that pollutes the world.

“Time has come for us to break out of the shackles of low ambition. We must now begin to aim higher and strive for more, and better outcomes,” he said.

Ruto urged the African continent to steer clear from the blame game with Western countries even if it has the smallest carbon footprint compared to the developed countries.

Scrutinise ideas

“We are not here just to talk about Africa or climate change in the usual way, which often accentuates our divisions—north versus south, developed versus developing, polluters versus the victims. We are not here to catalogue grievances and list problems. We are here to scrutinise ideas, assess perspectives and unlock solutions,” he noted. “Over the next three days, be ready to be challenged in this dynamic ecosystem of dialogue and discovery.”

Ruto told the delegates that the effects of climate change are on the increase which requires the continent to urgently develop financial interventions to address the arising problems.

“The human toll of climate change is disproportionately high. The urgency to address loss and damage, and to configure appropriate financial mechanisms for resilience grows with each extreme weather event and each bout of climate-induced insecurity,” Ruto said.

He told delegates that it is a balancing act for Africa as it aims to empower its growing population economically without pushing the world deeper into climate disaster which calls for an opportunity-oriented focus on climate action.

Young workforce

With this in mind, the President said that the continent should collaborate in the fight against climate crisis so that African countries can develop a common approach to address emerging challenges.

“It is because we all have a shared stake in the Earth’s ability to sustain life, that we must envision together a future that embraces the values of equality, human security, and shared prosperity,” Ruto stated.

He added: “Africa possesses all the necessary conditions to realise this future. Our foremost asset is our young and growing workforce, educated, skilled and motivated to pursue industry, innovation and enterprise.”

According to Ruto, Africa has ample renewable energy potential and the natural assets and resources to green its own consumption and meaningfully contribute to decarbonisation of the global economy.

“We must see in green growth not just a climate imperative, but also a fountain of multi-billion-dollar economic opportunities that Africa and the World is primed to capitalise on,” he explained.

The President who drove himself in an electric vehicle to the venue of the Summit said that Africa’s renewable energy resources can fuel sustainable development, drive economic growth, create jobs and uplift millions from energy poverty while reducing carbon footprint continentally and globally.

“The continent has enough potential to be entirely self-sufficient with the mix of wind, solar, geothermal, sustainable biomass and hydropower. In fact, Africa can be a green industrial hub that helps other regions achieve their net zero strategies by 2050,” the President said.

Giving Kenya as an example, Ruto revealed that the national grid currently operates at 3 Giga Watts, with 92 per cent of the power being renewable adding that the country targets to transition to 100 per cent renewable by 2030 and a 100 Giga Watt grid, entirely renewable, by 2040.

As the world march towards green transformation, the President noted that Africa is positioned as an attractive candidate to become a global hub in the green industrial supply chain owing to its large deposits of natural metals and minerals.

“We are already key players in the extraction of these minerals, but much of the higher-value addition—smelting, refining, assembly, and even the production of electric vehicles,” Ruto said. By 2025, the mining of battery-critical minerals like nickel, lithium, and cobalt is estimated to generate around USD11 billion in value.”