- Kenyan President William Ruto has urged the EU and national governments to increase investment in African clean energy infrastructure to ensure Africa’s most important partner in the energy transition.
- Speaking in Berlin, Ruto said that the planned EU carbon border adjustment mechanism should encourage low-emissions production from the continent.
Kenyan President William Ruto has urged the EU and national governments to increase investment in African clean energy infrastructure to ensure Africa’s most important partner in the energy transition. Kenya’s President William Ruto has urged the EU and national governments to increase investment in African clean energy infrastructure to ensure Africa’s most important partner in the energy transition.
Ruto said at the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue hosted by the German government earlier this week. “With the right level of investment, Africa can provide energy access for all by 2030 while reducing total emissions related to energy generation by approximately 80%.”
Speaking in Berlin, Ruto said that the planned EU carbon border adjustment mechanism should encourage low-emissions production from the continent. He added that the bloc could enhance innovative financing by using more high-quality African carbon credits in EU emission trading markets, which offer core benefits such as increased biodiversity and improved livelihoods.
Earlier this month, the EU and the German Development Corporation agreed to provide a further €20 million to help finance Kenya’s plans for a 100% green electricity system by 2030. Speaking to EURACTIV, Achim Steiner, the administrator of the UN Development Programme, said that it was in the interests of the EU and wealthy countries to ramp up investment in African states in the coming years, adding that there is growing disappointment in the continent at the difficulty of obtaining investment.
Proposals to reform the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to increase access to dramatically and the volume of climate and clean energy investment are expected to dominate the agenda of the Bank and IMF spring meetings.