The first African Climate Summit ended on Wednesday 6 September in Nairobi with a joint declaration by Heads of State setting out the continent’s expectations with regard to major polluting countries and its aspirations to become a major player in the decarbonization of the global economy. It defines the common position that its representatives will have to defend in a busy international agenda: G20 this weekend in India, United Nations General Assembly at the end of September, annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Marrakech in October, and a new round of climate negotiations in the United Arab Emirates in November (COP28).
The eight-page text was the subject of intense discussions to achieve a balance capable of satisfying the 54 States. A successful bet for the Kenyan President, William Ruto, who held this meeting described as “historic” by its participants and established himself as the strong voice of the continent. If the suggestion of the Senegalese leader, Macky Sall, is adopted, he could even be the only head of state to speak on behalf of all of Africa at COP28. A privilege that only former Ethiopian President Meles Zenawi (1991-2012) received at the 2009 World Climate Conference in Copenhagen.
For three days, William Ruto’s smile and pragmatism were able to seduce, even reassure, the Westerners invited to the event, but the consensus that emerged from Nairobi does not simply recall broken promises, such as the establishment of a annual fund of $100 billion (€93 billion).
Faced with the growing impacts of climate change and the need to build low-carbon economies, he calls for a paradigm shift by introducing a global tax on carbon emissions, “including a tax on the trade in fossil fuels, the air and sea transport”. This, to which could be added “a tax on financial transactions”, will make it possible to “provide dedicated, affordable and accessible financing to invest in large-scale climate projects, without drawing on [domestic] resources and without be unduly influenced by geopolitical and national interests”.
“Green Growth”
African leaders, who mocked in Nairobi the injustices of the global financial system and major institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank (whose reform is under discussion), are also calling for an increase in concessional loans – on very favorable financial terms – and debt relief measures.
On Tuesday, the Global Center for Adaptation, which supports the most vulnerable countries, announced that the continent’s financial needs could amount to $100 billion per year. For Tanzania, for example, which will submit its adaptation plan to COP28 in order to mobilize international financing, they amount to nearly $10 billion, or 15% of its GDP.
Faced with these choices, African leaders are considering the need to ensure that a continent whose population will double by 2050, and quadruple by 2100, proper economic development to achieve the objective of carbon neutrality. globally by mid-century and contain temperature increases to below 1.5°C or even 2°C. “We are committed to propelling economic growth and job creation in Africa in a way that not only limits our own emissions, but contributes to global decarbonization efforts,” they state.
Because the ambition of the Nairobi summit is also and above all to propose a positive agenda. William Ruto, relying on the trajectory of Kenya, whose electricity comes almost 90% from renewable energies, has constantly hammered home that the continent, through its renewable and non-renewable resources, can become a player central to the global energy transition, provided that it derives fair benefit from it. “Transforming the African economy through green growth is the fairest, most efficient and most feasible way to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050,” he explained.
“A Strong Signal”
The declaration thus underlines that, while the continent has 40% of the world’s renewable energy capacities, it still attracts only a marginal fraction of investments. At the same time, 600 million people are still without access to electricity and almost a billion people depend on forests and agricultural residues to cook their food. The text also recalls the role played by the Congo Basin forests in stabilizing the climate and biodiversity.
Present in Nairobi, the French negotiator of the Paris agreement, Laurence Tubiana, enthusiastically applauds this new commitment: “Africa is sending a strong signal. It is showing the leadership needed to maintain our chances of staying below 1.5°C warming. Ambitious African voices show that Africa can take the lead in forging a new global social contract between African countries, rich in resources essential to the green transition, and developed countries by following the conditions and standards proposed by the Africa. Europe must now listen to and support these voices in order to co-develop a green industrialization agenda and together break the taboos of an unjust financial system. »
The heads of state have also decided that they will convene a climate summit every two years.
