Ex-Presidents’ Open Letter on Ruto’s KICC Event & Ksh3 Trillion
A committee of eight former presidents from around the globe has urged the organizers of the African Climate Summit being held at the KICC to prioritize the delivery of Ksh3 trillion ($20 billion annually) to developing countries over the worsening of the climate crisis.
In an open letter, the former Heads of State, including former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, argued that the funds promised to be delivered by 2025 are essential to achieving the historic goal of protecting 30 percent of the world’s land and oceans.
The leaders emphasized that the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis are intricately intertwined and that no efforts to combat climate change will be successful if nature conservation is not given adequate attention.
“At this summit, we have heard a lot of talk and announcements on private finance and credits for climate action. While innovative finance mechanisms with integrity are welcome, they cannot be used as a proxy or substitute for developed countries to meet their promise of $ 20 billion in natural finance to developing countries by the fast-approaching deadline of 2025,” stated the former President of Colombia, Iván Duque.
Desalegn argued that global governments were spending a substantial amount of money on defense systems while the ecosystems surrounding them were swiftly deteriorating.
“$20 billion of international finance for biodiversity is less than 1% of the $2.24 trillion (Ksh327 trillion) in global defense spending, yet investment in the natural world is our best defense to prevent the collapse of our ecosystems which is key to our global economic stability and security,” he observed.
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“The Global North must begin to value and support the Global South’s stewardship of the biological resources and ecosystem services that we all, as a global community, depend on. The Global North must move fast to devise a strategy so that this $20 billion promise is delivered by 2025.”
The letter, dated August 16, was therefore sent to all sitting chiefs of state, urging them to prioritize environmental protection to keep global warming below 2°C.
“Ambitious targets to halt and reverse nature loss will only work when complemented by sufficient financing. Given the size of the biodiversity finance gap and the concentration of biodiversity in the developing world, $20 billion per year in international finance is a notable increase, roughly double the status quo,” read the statement in part.
Ernest Bai Koroma (former President of Sierra Leone), Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (former President of Liberia), Olafur Ragnar Grmsson (former President of Iceland), Mary Robinson (former President of Ireland), and Ruhakana Rugunda (former Prime Minister of Uganda) were among the other leaders who signed the open letter.
President William Ruto convened the first African Climate Summit in Nairobi to compel the highest carbon emitters to accept responsibility and pay for their emissions.
The impact of climate change on Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was a prominent topic of discussion at the conference.
Ruto alleged that those emitting the most carbon were not paying their bills, costing the African Continent between 5% and 15% of their GDP.
“To unlock the resources that we need to drive this new investment and financial opportunities, especially for green energy, we believe it is time to have a conversation about carbon tax,” he stated.
Over ten Heads of State traveled to Kenya for the occasion.
Ex-Presidents’ Open Letter on Ruto’s KICC Event & Ksh3 Trillion