The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, travelled to Nairobi (Kenya) on Tuesday 5 September to take part in the African Climate Summit, which from 4 to 6 September will bring together leaders, officials from the continent and international representatives, including the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, and Sultan Al-Jaber, the future President of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28), to put together a unified African position on both climate and development issues, less than three months before the event.
Invited to deliver a speech at the start of the second day of discussions, Ms von der Leyen emphasised the “need to make Africa’s voice heard” and to take account of its climate priorities. She expressed her willingness to stand alongside the African continent in the forthcoming negotiations and to work together, stressing that Europe and Africa share the “same interests” when it comes to climate action.
While recognising that Africa’s primary concern is to develop its economy and reduce poverty, President von der Leyen argued that climate action could be part of the solution, and set out a series of proposals to address the issue of financing.
The President of the European Commission, who also announced the ‘Global Gateway’ plan , which will devote €150 billion to the African continent for investment in clean energy projects and adaptation to climate change, called for the adoption of global solutions to attract private investment to Africa. This would involve green bonds, a “crucial point” on which she has put forward a proposal and which she hopes to address at the COP in Dubai.
“We are ready to share our expertise with your teams to help you develop your own green bond markets”, she announced. And, pledging to “push on the side of investors”, Ursula von der Leyen declared: “Together with the European Investment Bank and our Member States, we are allocating €1 billion to reduce the risk of private investment in emerging markets”.
At the same time, the President of the Commission stressed the importance of carbon pricing and carbon credits in financing climate action, and called for global targets to be set for the energy transition.
Concluding her speech with a quotation from Nelson Mandela, recalling that “it always seems impossible, until it is done”, Ms von der Leyen stressed the collective responsibility of fighting climate change for future generations and urged Africa and Europe to “join forces” for COP28. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)