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US President Joe Biden has invited President Uhuru Kenyatta to a Summit on Climate scheduled for April 22 and 23.

The President is among the 40 world leaders invited to the meeting that will be held virtually and will be live-streamed for public viewing. 

Other African leaders invited are Presidents Ali Bongo (Gabon), Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa), Muhammadu Buhari (Nigeria) and Félix Tshisekedi (Democratic Republic of the Congo).

A statement from the White House, the Leaders’ Summit on Climate will underscore the urgency and economic benefits of stronger climate action and will be a key milestone on the road to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) this November in Glasgow.

Climate change

Biden took action on his first day in office to return the United States to the Paris Agreement on climate change.  

In his invitation, Biden urged leaders to use the Summit as an opportunity to outline how their countries also will contribute to stronger climate ambition.

“President Biden announced that he would soon convene a leaders’ summit to galvanise efforts by the major economies to tackle the climate crisis,” the statement.

It stated that the Summit would reconvene the US-led major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, which brings together 17 countries responsible for approximately 80 per cent of global emissions and global GDP.

“The President also invited the heads of other countries that are demonstrating strong climate leadership, and are vulnerable to climate impacts or are charting innovative pathways to a net-zero economy. 

“A small number of business and civil society leaders will also participate in the Summit,” the statement.

Internationally, Presidents Jair Bolsonaro (Brazil), Xi Jinping (China), Iván Duque Márquez (Colombia), Emmanuel Macron, (France), Sebastián Piñera (Chile), Joko Widodo (Indonesia) and Alberto Fernandez (Argentina) among others have also been invited.

 “By the time of the Summit, the US  will announce an ambitious 2030 emissions target as its new Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement,” the statement.

Key themes of the Summit will include galvanising efforts by the world’s major economies to reduce emissions during this critical decade to keep a limit to warming of 1.5 degree Celsius within reach, mobilising public and private sector finance to drive the net-zero transition and to help vulnerable countries cope with climate impacts and the economic benefits of climate action.

Terror fight

Also to be deliberated will be spurring transformational technologies that can help reduce emissions and adapt to climate change, while also creating enormous new economic opportunities will be key themes.

During their telephone conversation when Biden was elected president, the leaders discussed regional security and instability.

The two leaders also discussed the fight against terrorism in the Horn of Africa, with Biden promising to offer Kenya “adequate support” towards the cause.

Biden also promised to collaborate with Kenya in tackling some of the major challenges facing the world such as climate change.

“The president-elect offered his gratitude for President Kenyatta’s congratulations and expressed his appreciation for the strong and lasting ties between our two countries,” the Biden transition team said in a statement.

In their thirty-minute call, the two leaders discussed how they would cooperate to tackle the thorny issue of climate change that the previous US administration had downplayed.