Africa Climate Summit 2023
Against the backdrop of a growing climate crisis, the Africa Climate Summit brought together governments, NGOs and philanthropists, to set out concrete and sustainable solutions for a climate-resilient Africa.
Convened by the Africa Union and hosted by the Government of Kenya, the summit took place in Nairobi during Africa Climate Week (4-8 September 2023). And I was excited to represent International Tree Foundation as well as meet with peers and organisations in the landscape restoration field.
The summit was really important for global leaders to chart new paths towards inclusive climate action that benefit both the African continent and the world at large. Despite being responsible for less than 3% of the world’s carbon emissions, communities across Africa are disproportionately bearing the brunt and burden of climate change.
Prolonged droughts, catastrophic floods and erratic climatic conditions have already displaced thousands and caused widespread damage to infrastructure and agricultural systems. Therefore, it is important to strengthen local community-led restoration initiatives for a sustainable and climate-resilient future.
“Climate action is not a Global North issue or a Global South issue. It is our collective challenge, and it affects all of us. We need to come together to find common, global solutions.”
Commitments towards a climate-resilient future
In response to the environmental challenges facing Africa, the Nairobi Declaration was unanimously adopted. The declaration urges the global community to act with urgency in reducing emissions and calls for a new global carbon tax regime to fund climate action.
The summit also saw the launch of several new initiatives to support climate action in Africa. Including the Bezos Earth Fund's $22.8 million commitment to accelerate the restoration of 600,000 hectares of degraded land.
Accelerating landscape restoration
During the summit, the team and I attended a roundtable discussion led by the Bezos Earth Fund team, World Resources Institute - Africa and One Tree Planted among other institutions. The topic of discussion was accelerating Africa’s locally led restoration movement.
Representatives from ITF, One Tree Planted, NEPAD, World Resource Institute-Africa and ARCOS Network Rwanda
We also got to meet fellow members of Terra-fund AFR100’s cohort 1 and stakeholders from both private and non-governmental organisations to share experiences and lessons learnt in the past year. It was also a great opportunity to identify gaps and opportunities for synergy between our organisations.
A strong foundation for inclusive climate action
Here are some of my key takeaways from the summit:
The importance of local community-led restoration initiatives: These initiatives are essential for building resilience to climate change and ensuring that the benefits of climate action are shared equitably.
The need to champion women's leadership in climate action: Women are disproportionately affected by climate change, but they are also playing a leading role in finding solutions.
The need for innovative financing mechanisms to support climate action: These mechanisms can help to de-risk investments and unlock the capital needed to scale up climate action.
I believe that the commitments made during the Africa Climate Summit provide a strong foundation for inclusive climate action. They’ll also contribute greatly towards building a more sustainable and resilient future for Africa .
Dundori Forest, Kenya
“The bottom line is without local leadership, local wisdom, and passion, scaling restoration across Africa would be impossible. ”
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