Africa Climate Summit to Kick off In Nairobi on 4th September

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September 03, 2023

The Africa Climate Summit (ACS) will be held from 4th to 6th September 2023 in Nairobi. It will be co-hosted by the Government of Kenya and the African Union Commission (AUC) pursuant to an AU Assembly Decision adopted during the its 36th Ordinary Session on 19th February 2023.

The summit aims to position Africa in solidarity with the rest of the world for global climate action, under the theme Driving Green Growth and Climate Finance Solutions for Africa and the World. Deliberations will focus on the nexus between climate change and Africa’s development reality, with special emphasis on increasing investment in climate action in Africa.

The summit will kick off on Monday 4^th September with a ministerial day setting the stage for the ACS, showcasing Africa’s potential to address climate challenges, and emphasizing the need for a fairer financial system, as well as highlighting the road to COP28 to be held in the United Arab Emirates in 2024. Speakers at the opening plenary session will include H.E William Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya; H.E. Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment at the African Union Commission; Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); and representatives of civil society organisations, indigenous peoples and youth

Throughout the first day, ministers from relevant sectors i.e. finance, energy, environment, and agriculture; heads of UN agencies; development partners, the private sector, philanthropies, civil society, women and youth, will deliberate on issues including scaling international climate finance for Africa; investment opportunities for the transformation of food systems in Africa; accelerating climate resilient investments in water; carbon markets in the global south; harnessing Africa's renewable energy potential; adaptation across the continent; Africa's Green Hydrogen, Manufacturing and Trade Potential; investment in nature and biodiversity; integrated livable African cities; spotlight on African financial markets – scaling up domestic private capital to accelerate Africa’s green economic transformation; elevating the role of ocean governance and blue economy in Africa; and investing in green transport in Africa.

After the ministerial meeting, the Summit of Heads of State and Government will begin on the 5^th of September. Information on this session will be released soon.

Expected outputs of the 3 day summit are:

An African Leaders Nairobi Declaration on a Green Growth and Climate Finance Agenda and Solutions for Africa and the World;
Pathway to a new global financial deal that includes “at scale” and fit for purpose financing instruments/products to serve specific growth goals;
Investment commitments, including showcasing multi-billion dollar worth of green investment deals on the continent across all thematic sectors of the summit;
Announcements on tangible progress on ongoing major continent-wide/ global initiatives, and new partnerships/ initiatives; and
Roadmap for implementation of key declarations.

Get more information, concept note and programmes at https://au.int/en/newsevents/ACS

Follow the livestream of the events on the AU website:

Opening session https://livestream.com/accounts/2466140/events/10935537

Press conferences: https://livestream.com/aficanunion/events/10933871

For information on the Africa Climate Summit please contact:

Journalists wishing to interview the AU leadership should forward their inquiries to:

Follow the conversation #AfricaClimateSummit #AfricaClimateSummit2023 #ACS2023

Note for the editors

The Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international climate summit. Since 1995, it has been held annually unless Parties decide otherwise. At COPs, world leaders gather to work together on solutions to tackle climate change. There are now 199 Parties (198 States plus the EU) to the Convention, constituting near universal membership.