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COP28 President-Designate Calls for Climate Finance Reform to Unlock Africa's Clean Energy Potential

In a joint statement with the President-Designate, President Ruto commended the UAE, its leadership and the COP Presidency on their long-standing support for sustainable development and climate action.

June 21, 2023. By Anurima Mondal

COP28 President-Delegate, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, met William Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, along with energy ministers and leaders from other African nations, at the Africa Energy Forum in Nairobi, where he emphasised the importance of making climate finance more available, accessible, and affordable to enable countries in the continent to achieve their clean energy potential.

In a joint statement with the President-Designate, President Ruto commended the UAE, its leadership and the COP Presidency on their long-standing support for sustainable development and climate action. Kenya and COP28 will jointly champion actions to triple installed renewable energy capacity by 2030, and will cooperate on policy and scaling finance.

A joint working group has also been launched through the Africa Climate Summit and COP28 to focus on a just energy transition and unlocking climate finance to accelerate green growth in Africa.

With abundant clean energy resources, including wind, solar, hydro and geothermal sources, and precious metals, Africa "has the potential to emerge as a hub for renewable energies, and a significant driver of clean growth for the world," the President-Designate said. "But one major obstacle stands in its way. And that is a lack of available, accessible and affordable finance."

The President-Designate repeated calls for developed nations to meet their historic commitment of delivering USD 100 billion a year in climate finance for developing nations, and reiterated the need for reform of international financial institutions (IFIs) and multilateral development banks (MDBs).

Dr. Al Jaber hailed Kenya's success in providing 80 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources.

"Africa's potential as a clean energy giant is massive," Dr. Al Jaber said. "Developing that potential will require political will, visionary ambition and lots of capital. Some of this is already happening through evidence-based energy transition plans. The AFDB is spearheading innovative, blended public and private finance solutions to expand clean growth through Africa 50. And the UAE has deployed over USD 12 billion in development and renewable projects across Africa through public/private partnerships."

During his meeting with President Ruto, Dr. Al Jaber discussed adaptation & mitigation efforts, including the transition to green energy and COP28's action plan that aims to build bridges nurturing collaboration between the global north & south. The President-Designate also met with Davis Chirchir, Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum, to discuss the need for accelerated partnerships on renewable energy, in the lead up to the Africa Climate Summit, taking place in Nairobi in September, and COP28UAE.

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installed renewable energy capacity by 2030