H.E. Ms. Fitsum Assefa Adela, President of AMCEN, Minister of Planning and Development, Ethiopia
Hon. Eng. Collins Nzovu, MP, Minister of Green Economy and Climate Change for Zambia,
H.E. Josefa Sacko, African Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment,
Dr. Kevin Kariuki, Vice President, Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth, African Development Bank Group,
Excellencies and friends.
My thanks for the invitation to engage with you, the African Ministers of the Environment and the Africa Group of Negotiators. Congratulations also to Ethiopia for taking over as President of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment. We at UNEP look forward to working with you.
We are gathered here at this COP, and at this event, to make real progress on the climate emergency. It is time to set new climate records. Not on temperature highs and climate extremes. But on emissions cuts, on financing adaptation, on loss and damage and on just transitions. This is essential to end the climate injustice that means the nations, communities and people who bear the least responsibility for climate change suffer the most from its impacts.
UNEP’s 2023 Emissions Gap Report was clear that countries with greater responsibility for emissions must take more ambitious action – and provide financial and technical support to developing nations. UNEP’s Adaptation Gap Report was clear that wealthy nations, the private sector, philanthropies and others must deliver serious funds for adaptation and Loss and Damage. Because the adaptation finance gap runs to hundreds of billions each year. And losses and damages are mounting. The greenlighting of the Loss and Damage Fund, and financial pledges made to it, at this COP is a step in the right direction. Now we look to what progress can be made on the global goal on adaptation and the collective quantified finance goal.
These are all elements that AMCEN, and African nations, have called for. Fought for. United in support of. I am sure that your negotiators will push hard on these issues, and that their positions will be heard. Because Africa is becoming an ever-stronger global force on climate. Not just as a voice, but as an actor. Through AMCEN, and its decisions. Through the African Union Climate Change Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan. Through the Africa Climate Summit. Through the leadership of countries like the Republic of Congo, which recently brought together the nations of the three basins to protect the world’s tropical rainforests.
It is by mining this rich vein of action that Africa can truly take a great leap forward to low-carbon, climate-resilient and prosperous societies. And this is a leap that African nations must take. Yes, the big emitters, particularly G20 nations, must bring down their emissions rapidly. Yes, they must support developing nations. But low and middle-income countries must also ensure that they do not themselves step into spots vacated by the big emitters and commit the self-defeating act of fueling their own climate vulnerability.
So, end poverty, yes. End energy poverty, yes. Grow, develop, provide new jobs, opportunities and hope. But do this through clean energy, not fossil fuels. Through backing nature, not using it up. Through using critical minerals and other resources wisely and in a circular manner. Through innovating on newer, greener ways of doing business – including by using the continent’s rich renewable resources to provide things like greener construction materials and planet-friendly alternatives to plastic.
I wish you every success in securing the outcomes Africa wants from this COP. Rest assured that UNEP stands with you. We at UNEP will work ever closer with AMCEN and African nations to drive low-carbon and climate-resilient development transitions. And to support Africa as it cements its place as a thriving and respected leader in carving out a better, greener future for all.
