Campaigners to One Planet Summit ask for real climate solutions for Africa

National and business leaders, as well as prominent figures of youth and civil society, will come together in Nairobi for the One Planet Summit, under the theme of “Africa’s Pledge”. 350Africa and other climate groups will march from the YMCA to the University of Nairobi to call for real climate solutions for the continent.

The much-publicised event has in fact left climate campaigners concerned that the Summit will be another lost opportunity to advance meaningful climate action on the scale and timeline needed to avoid the worst case scenarios of climate change in Africa. 

Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta will be hosting the 3rd edition of the One Planet Summit, which is convened by French President Emmanuel Macron, with the support of the World Bank and the United Nations.

Officially, the meeting aims to highlight "the unique role of Africa as a global partner facing both challenges and opportunities, especially in the area of innovative solutions for adaptation and resilience" and to promote "the concrete actions needed to accelerate the global transition to a low-carbon economy ".

The World Bank Group is stepping up its climate support for Africa by providing $22.5 billion for Africa for climate adaptation and mitigation for the five years from 2021-2025. This more than doubles the commitment to climate-related projects over the last five years.

The funding is part of the Bank Group’s 2025 Targets to Step Up Climate Action, launched in December 2018 during the UN’s COP24 in Poland. It will help African countries manage the risks of a changing climate while unlocking new investment opportunities. IFC and MIGA, the Group’s private sector arms, will also continue to ambitiously grow their climate activities in Africa.

“People across Africa are already experiencing the growing impacts of climate change. This region is particularly vulnerable to increasing floods, droughts and destructive storms,” said Interim President of the World Bank Group, Kristalina Georgieva. “We have to do more and do it faster, or millions of people could be plunged into poverty. That’s why the World Bank is providing more money to build resilience and help communities cope with the effects of climate change in Africa.”

President Macron launched this initiative in December 2017 to accelerate the implementation of the 2015 Paris Climate agreement, which has seen slow progress, especially in decarbonizing the world economy, helping vulnerable countries and financing the low-carbon transition, particularly in Asia and in Africa.

Landry Ninteretse, Regional Team Leader for 350Africa, said, “Accelerating the global transition towards low carbon emissions means phasing out all fossil fuels projects. Globally, coal plants are being shut down one after another and strong commitments are being made by leaders in the global “North”.

However, Africa remains the only continent where coal seems acceptable, and continues to grow, while it’s the most vulnerable continent to climate change. Ending all coal projects in the short term and committing to not financing any new coal infrastructures is the only meaningful promise we’re expecting from this Summit. Anything short of that would amount to just paying lip service to climate action.”

Clémence Dubois, campaigner at 350 France, said: “French President Macron is convening a summit to advance climate action in and for Africa, while French oil giant Total is still extracting fossil fuels from Western Africa and many large French companies are still involved in fossil fuels extraction and production across the continent. African communities will never be safe from the worst impacts of climate change, as long as fossil fuel operations are rapidly phased out. If Macron is serious about being a climate champion, he should have a chat with French companies still polluting Africa and exploiting its resources. This is the pledge we’d like to see.”