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africa climate summit
African Climate Leaders Say Nairobi Summit Fell Victim to Corporate Interests, False Solutions
"The solutions do not lie with private capital and the age-old profit driven model," said one advocate.
Sep 08, 2023
The historic Africa Climate Summit held in Nairobi, Kenya this week marked the first time leaders from across the continent convened to focus on the climate crisis, but campaigners on Friday said the voices of the most vulnerable were largely silenced during the three-day summit while leaders drafted a declaration that critics say fell prey to "distracting false solutions."
While the Nairobi Declaration on Climate Change and Call to Action was applauded by advocates for its call to boost Africa's renewable energy capacity to 300 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, critics said leaders across the continent showed they are still too eager to bend to the interests and desires of the fossil fuel industry and its financial backers.
The declaration's demands include:
- A global carbon tax on fossil fuels, maritime transport, and aviation;
- Financial reforms to help fund climate action in Africa and the end of a system in which African countries are forced to pay more to borrow climate funds, leading to recurrent debt crises; and
- Stronger regulations of the harvesting and processing of the continent's minerals.
But groups including the think tank Power Shift Africa (PSA) said the commitment of hundreds of millions of dollars by international governments and development banks for carbon markets initiatives were "essentially, a diversion, and even wastage, of money that could go into investment in real climate solutions."
PSA called the African Carbon Market Initiative "a wolf in sheep's clothing" in a report released this month, warning that "polluters and investors" have for decades promoted carbon markets—in which fossil fuel companies claim to "offset" emissions by investing in conservation initiatives or sustainability—but the system enables "the wealthy to continue polluting, while giving an illusion of commensurate carbon neutralization through questionable accounting methodologies."
As Al Jazeera reported, the continent earns less than $10 per ton of carbon removed from the atmosphere in its existing market initiatives, while other regions can receive over $100.
Joab Bwire Okanda, a senior adviser at Christian Aid, welcomed the declaration's call for a global carbon tax but told the BBC that "to make polluters really pay, false solutions like carbon credits that allow polluters a free ride without taking meaningful action need to be consigned to the dustbin."
350.org said the summit should have ended with a renewable energy commitment that was far greater than 300 GW by the end of the decade, calling for 11,000 GW—"the level required to limit global heating to 1.5°C" over preindustrial levels.
"This is a good starting point, but it falls short of expectations," said Charity Migwi, regional campaigner for 350Africa.org. "As Africans grapple with the debilitating impacts of the climate crisis, African leaders engage in rhetoric and false solutions such as fossil gas and carbon markets that seek to delay meaningful climate action and the much-needed just transition away from fossil fuels, that is central to the fight against the climate crisis. African nations must walk the talk in regards to limiting global warming by shunning fossil fuels."
Zaki Mamdoo, campaign coordinator for StopEACOP, which aims to end French oil company TotalEnergies' East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project, said the Nairobi Declaration "says little about the need to halt the development of new fossil fuels on the continent," even after a Human Rights Watch report in July showed the project has threatened the homes of more than 100,000 people in Tanzania and Uganda, caused food insecurity, and pushed children to leave school while also likely having "devastating environmental effects."
"This summit has provided a platform for governments to flirt with big business while [advocacy groups], trade unions, [and] youth organizations are confined to the fringes with little influence on the outcome of high-level deliberations," said Mamdoo. "If we are to use the crisis of climate as an opportunity to simultaneously uplift our people out of poverty and ensure the well-being of all—then we need the interests of these groups to be at the forefront of decision-making. The solutions do not lie with private capital and the age-old profit driven model."
Others agreed that "local voices" of people who have been most impacted by the climate emergency were missing from the summit.
"Their stories of hope, perseverance, suffering, and disaster were glaringly absent, hidden away behind security barriers and military armament," said Yegeshni Moodley, climate and energy justice campaign lead for Friends of the Earth South Africa. "The use of top-down, technocratic false solutions negates the value of local knowledge and traditional practices that have sustained generations on their land. We must decry and lament the situation Africa has been placed into, where her lands and riches are once again being sold away to the distress and poverty of her people.”
As Common Dreams reported earlier this month when the summit opened, a report by Oxfam found that wealthy nations have provided a small fraction of what East Africa needs to fight and adapt to the climate crisis—just $2.4 billion in aid in 2021, compared with the $53.3 billion needed annually to meet the targets of the Paris climate agreement.
People across the continent are facing the effects of the climate crisis, which has been blamed for a famine in Madagascar and has forced more than 1 million people in Somalia to leave their homes as a prolonged drought has overtaken the country.
Advocates say that Africa must be recognized as a key ally in providing solutions to the climate emergency rather than cast aside as a victim.
"Our leaders need to know that people across Africa are waking up to what needs to be done," said Essoklnam Pedessi of the Renewable Energy Coalition in Togo. "We are calling for less talk and more action. We need to break away from the failed approaches and distracting false solutions. Africa has abundant wind and solar to power up for 100% renewable energy."
"What it needs," she added, "is climate funding to unlock this potential."
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What’s at Stake at the Africa Climate Summit?
We hope that the summit will prioritise the voices and concerns of us—young people, who are the ones who will inherit the consequences of climate inaction.
Sep 04, 2023
As the Africa Climate Summit kicks off in Nairobi, Kenya (4-6 September, 2023) with the theme of “Driving Green Growth and Climate Finance Solutions for Africa and the World,” I’m filled with a mix of hope, urgency, and determination. Young people like me recognise the gravity of the climate crisis and its disproportionate impact on African countries. We want meaningful action to address the environmental challenges that threaten our continent’s future.
First and foremost, we hope that the Africa Climate Summit will prioritise the voices and concerns of us—young people. We are the ones who will inherit the consequences of climate inaction, and our perspectives and ideas should be central to discussions. We want to be more than just spectators—we want a seat at the table to contribute our innovative solutions, fresh ideas, and determination to create a more sustainable future.
Climate Justice Is Key
Climate justice is key for us. I want to see commitments that not only mitigate climate change but also address the social and economic disparities that exist within and among African nations. Many vulnerable communities, especially in rural areas of Kenya, are already experiencing the impacts of climate change, from erratic weather patterns to dwindling natural resources. It’s crucial that the summit focuses on empowering these communities and ensuring that they are not left behind.
The summit should result in tangible agreements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote renewable energy sources, and invest in sustainable agriculture and infrastructure.
I am eager to see concrete actions and commitments from governments, industries, and international organisations. The summit should result in tangible agreements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote renewable energy sources, and invest in sustainable agriculture and infrastructure. It’s not enough to just talk—we need to see measurable steps towards a carbon-neutral future.
Pan African Partnerships, Global Collaboration
I look forward to a summit that will foster partnerships between African countries and the global community. Climate change is a global issue that requires collaborative efforts, and we can only find solutions when countries come together to share knowledge, resources, and expertise. This includes financial support to assist African nations transition to greener economies and adapt to the changing climate.
As a plastic campaigner, I feel a sense of responsibility to raise awareness about the summit and its outcomes among my peers. Social media and online platforms have given us the tools to connect and mobilise like never before, and I intend to use these channels to ensure that discussions, decisions, and outcomes made at the Africa Climate Summit will reach as many young people as possible. It’s crucial that we stay informed and engaged, holding our leaders accountable to the promises they make.
The Africa Climate Summit is a pivotal moment for our continent and the world. As a young person, I am excited to see how it will unfold and hopeful that it will mark a turning point in the fight against climate change in Africa. Our future is at stake, and we are ready to be part of the solution.
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Rich Nations Have Delivered Mere 'Pittance' to Help East Africa Tackle Climate Crisis: Oxfam
"We have an abundance of clean, renewable energy," said one African activist. "But to unlock it, Africa needs funding from countries that have got rich off our suffering."
Sep 04, 2023
As the first-ever Africa Climate Summit kicked off in Nairobi, Kenya on Monday, an analysis by the humanitarian group Oxfam found that rich nations have delivered just a small fraction of the aid that East African nations say they need each year to meet their climate goals.
Unlike rich countries that account for a disproportionate share of planet-warming greenhouse gas pollution, East Africa has contributed "almost nothing" to global carbon emissions that are driving record-shattering heat worldwide, Oxfam's new report notes. In 2021, according to one recent estimate, the average North American emitted 11 times more carbon dioxide than the average African.
The World Meteorological Organization pointed out Monday that Africa is responsible for less than 10% of global carbon emissions.
Yet "East Africa is one of the world's worst-hit regions by climate change and is now experiencing its worst climate-induced extreme weather, fueling an alarming hunger crisis," Oxfam's report states. "Over 31.5 million people are currently facing acute hunger across Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and South Sudan."
Those countries, which suffer billions of dollars worth of climate-related damage each year, have said they will need at least $53.3 billion annually to meet critical targets under the Paris Climate Agreement. According to Oxfam, wealthy countries provided just $2.4 billion in aid to East African nations in 2021.
More broadly, Oxfam noted, high-income countries pledged that they would provide $100 billion a year by 2020 to help lower-income countries fight climate chaos.
"Oxfam estimates that in 2020 the real value of financial support specifically aimed at climate action was only around $21 billion to $24.5 billion—much less than officially reported figures suggest," the group's report states.
Fati N'Zi-Hassane, Oxfam's Africa director, said Monday that "even by their own generous accounts, polluting nations have delivered only pittance to help East Africa scale up their mitigation and adaptation efforts."
"Nearly half the funds (45%) they did give were loans, plunging the region further into more debt," N'Zi-Hassane added.
Climate finance is expected to be a major topic of discussion at the Nairobi summit, which comes after months of scorching heat on the continent.
"Africa is seen as a sunny and hot continent," Amadou Thierno Gaye, a research scientist and professor at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, told Bloomberg in July. "People think we are used to heat, but we are having high temperatures for a longer duration. Nobody is used to this."
The Associated Pressreported Monday that "there is some frustration on the continent about being asked to develop in cleaner ways than the world's richest countries—which have long produced most of the emissions that endanger climate—and to do it while much of the support that has been pledged hasn't appeared."
Mohamed Adow of Power Shift Africa told AP that "we have an abundance of clean, renewable energy and it's vital that we use this to power our future prosperity. But to unlock it, Africa needs funding from countries that have got rich off our suffering."
In addition to calling on rich nations to contribute the aid they've promised to support Africa's renewable energy transition, African civil society groups are urging their leaders to reject fossil fuel expansion, specifically warning against the completion of TotalEnergies' East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).
A recent Human Rights Watch report warned that more than 100,000 people in Uganda and Tanzania are set to "permanently lose land to make way for the pipeline and Tilenga oilfield development." One analysis indicates the pipeline could result in 379 million tonnes of planet-warming emissions over its lifespan—more than 25 times the combined annual emissions of Uganda and Tanzania.
Zaki Mamdoo, coordinator of the Stop EACOP Coalition, said Monday that "the African Climate Summit could provide the platform needed for the continent to dramatically shift its trajectory and future—from one that is set to bear the brunt of climate collapse, to one of energy security and prosperity driven by decentralized and people-centered renewables."
"For this to happen," said Mamdoo, "African leaders will need to rise to the occasion and make firm commitments to significantly upscale renewable energy developments while resisting and withdrawing any and all support for exploitative and destructive projects like the East African Crude Oil Pipeline."
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