Africa demands global finance reforms to spur green growth

Africa demands global finance reforms to spur green growth

NAIROBI: African leaders on Wednesday demanded sweeping changes to the global financial system and urged the international community to back a surge in renewable energy as they wrapped up a landmark climate summit in Kenya. Africa is acutely vulnerable to the growing impacts of climate change, but leaders at the three-day meeting in Nairobi were eager to cast the continent not as a victim but a long-ignored ally in the fight against global warming. “Africa possesses both the potential and the ambition to be a vital component of the global solution to climate change,” said the final declaration from the meeting, on behalf of the African Union.

But, it warned, unlocking green growth across the continent “on a scale that can contribute meaningfully to decarbonization of the global economy” required a massive scaleup in funding. It called on the international community to ease Africa’s crushing debt burden and reform the global financial system to unblock investment in clean energy. Consensus is hard-won across Africa, a diverse continent of 1.4 billion people where some governments are championing a renewable-powered future while others defend their reserves of fossil fuels.

“At the summit, our shared understanding became clear: that Africa is not only the cradle