Anti-poverty organisation, The ONE Campaign, has described the just-concluded Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, as one that offered African leaders an opportunity to chart the continent’s “unified and comprehensive direction towards building an equitable and sustainable future for the continent.”
The organisation said the bold plans put forward at the summit, which was hosted by the government of Kenya and the African Union, were welcomed by many, but noted that the plans required scale and speed of concrete action to match the accelerated speed of the climate crisis.
In a statement, ONE’s Executive Director for Africa, Serah Makka, said: “President (William) Ruto (of Kenya) and the African Union deserve credit for providing a platform and setting a plan that finally reflects the magnitude of climate and economic crises facing Africa, and the scale of solutions required to tackle them. We echo President Ruto’s sentiments that African solutions are not only for Africa but for the betterment of the world.
“The Nairobi Declaration rightly calls for bold and concrete action that supports Africa’s investment in its own development and action on climate change. Unleashing Africa’s potential needs fair access to finance and investment, something the current system is geared against.
“Practically, leaders laid out a clear agenda to massively increase MDB (multilateral development banks) financing, tackle inefficient debt management processes and better leverage international resources like Special Drawing Rights. Tripling MDB financing, including critically concessional finance for countries that need it most, is the step change we need to see and that would help Africa access the affordable capital it needs.
“The G20 must now build on the spirit and determination shown at this summit to drive urgent action and change. Modest incrementalism will not do it. A seat at the table and a just global financial architecture system are not unjust proposals to make.
“With the continent increasingly speaking with one voice, it is time for the rest of the world to listen and improve access to the tools needed to give Africa’s 1.4 billion people a shot at a better, fairer and more sustainable future.”
ONE is a global organisation campaigning to end extreme poverty and preventable disease by 2030.
Nonpartisan, it pressures governments to do more to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa, and empowers citizens to hold their governments to account.
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