African leaders demand global financial investments to tackle climate change emergency  

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 5 September 2023:

The African Climate Summit has kicked off in Nairobi, Kenya. The Summit provides an opportunity for an African Leaders Nairobi Declaration on Green Growth and Climate Finance Solutions, and for a Call to Action for African Union Member States and supporting partners to champion its delivery.

It seeks to launch a new ambition for Africa and invite partnerships with the rest of the world. The summit serves as a platform to showcase progress, exchange perspectives, and begin to converge on common priorities for global discussions (including UNGA, G20, World Bank Group (WBG) and IMF Annual Meetings, COP28 and beyond).

It will enable African countries to define detailed plans, shape their associated tools and investments, inform and push for reforms of the international financial architecture, share innovation, knowledge, experience, and practical approaches to deepen and expand understanding of climate challenges and opportunities, and enable Africa to renew its vision and become more assertive in pursuing a climate and development agenda through a unified approach.

Furthermore, the Summit will provide a platform to address the intersection of climate change, Africa’s development, and the need for increased global investment in climate action, particularly in Africa.

It is also an opportunity for Africa to consolidate its united voice on matters of climate change, sustainable development and to mobilise support for the implementation of continental programmes and policies such as the African Union Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan: https://au.int/en/documents/20220628/african-union-climate-change-and-resilient-development-strategy-and-action-plan

African Climate Summit is seeking to achieve the following:

1. African Leaders Nairobi Declaration on a Green Growth and Climate Finance Agenda and Solutions for Africa and the World;
2. Pathway to a new global financial deal that includes “at scale” and fit for purpose financing instruments/products to serve specific growth goals;
3. Investment commitments, including showcasing multi-billion dollar worth of green investment deals on the continent across all thematic sectors of the summit;
4. Announcements on tangible progress on ongoing major continent-wide/ global initiatives, and new partnerships/ initiatives; and
5. Roadmap for implementation of key declarations.

The summit is being attended by African Heads of State and Government, global leaders, development partners, civil society organizations, researchers, academia and relevant stakeholders, among others.

The Decision of the 36^th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government, which took place in February 2023, mandated the African Union Commission to convene a summit on Climate Change and simultaneously endorsed the offer by the Government of Kenya to host the summit.