- Sultan Al Jaber, who leads the UAE’s renewable energy firm Masdar, the national oil company ADNOC, and the COP28 climate talks, announced this commitment.
- The three-day Nairobi event, which began on Monday, convened African leaders to outline a collective vision for sustainable development on the continent, which is home to 1.4 billion people.
During the climate meeting in Kenya, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) committed $4.5 billion to renewable energy projects in Africa. The Nairobi meeting, attended by thousands of guests, including heads of state, government officials, and industry executives, aimed to showcase Africa’s potential as a sustainable energy powerhouse. After the Africa Climate meeting, there are expectations of conflicting agendas regarding the world’s energy future at the upcoming COP28 meeting in Dubai later this year.
Sultan Al Jaber emphasised the importance of Africa’s success in addressing climate change, stating, “If Africa loses, we all lose.” He said the investment aims to develop 15 gigawatts (GW) of clean power by 2030 and catalyse an additional $12.5 billion from various funding sources, including multilateral, public, and private sources. As of 2022, Africa’s renewable energy generation capacity was reported at 56 GW by the International Renewable Energy Agency.
On Tuesday, the summit will propose reforms to global financial structures that have disproportionately directed climate investment away from Africa. Jaber called for restructuring the global financial architecture to address the issue, emphasising the need to reduce debt burdens. Despite Africa’s abundant natural resources, only a small fraction of global energy investments, around three per cent, are directed towards the continent. The Africa Climate meeting witnessed a significant commitment from the UAE to invest in renewable energy projects in Africa. The upcoming COP28 meeting in Dubai is expected to involve conflicting discussions about the future of global energy, and the Nairobi summit aims to define a shared vision for green development in Africa while addressing financial inequalities in climate