Receive free climate change updates
we will send you myFT Daily Digest Email summary of the latest information climate change Every morning there is news.
African leaders propose a global carbon tax, with major polluters paying more, to help poor countries finance the rollout of green energy systems and prepare for the damaging effects of climate change after a three-day summit in Kenya .
The Nairobi Declaration, signed on Wednesday, calls for a global carbon price on fossil fuel trade, shipping and aviation, and a global financial transaction tax.
It also called for a nearly sixfold increase in renewable energy capacity across the continent, where hundreds of millions of people lack energy and clean cooking.
The host of the summit, Kenyan President William Ruto, told the Financial Times that now is the time for the international community to discuss a carbon tax and that all countries should contribute.
“What we’re saying is we want to pay. We don’t want to say ‘make those people pay because they’re polluters’, we want to say, ‘let us all pay’ and then let’s put in place a mechanism that will These resources are invested to unlock the maximum value of decarbonization.” said.
The declaration says carbon prices are key to ensuring “affordable and accessible financing for large-scale climate positive investments” and calls for “separating these resources and decisions from geopolitics and national interests”.
The IMF has previously said a global carbon price would be one of the fastest and most effective ways to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions, although the idea of a global carbon tax has struggled to gain traction in some countries.
The Nairobi Declaration will be used by African leaders as a negotiating document for COP28, the UN climate summit to be held in the United Arab Emirates later this year.
Tens of thousands of delegates, including Rwandan President Paul Kagame, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, attended the African climate summit in Nairobi, the precursor to COP28. The event marked the first time the African continent has come together specifically to consider how to tackle the climate crisis, exploring challenges and solutions.
At the summit, von der Leyen also called on international leaders to collaborate at COP28 on a plan for a global carbon price.
African leaders have called for an investment of US$600 billion to meet the target of increasing renewable energy generation to 300GW by 2030 from the current 56GW. A total of $26 billion in funding and investment has been announced for various climate-focused initiatives.
The leaders also backed reform of the multilateral financial system, arguing that development banks need to increase concessional lending to poorer countries.
How the World Bank and other multilateral development banks support countries’ financing efforts to combat climate change has become a key battleground in climate discussions. All countries need to decarbonize their electricity systems and take other steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to stop the rise in global temperatures. But developing countries receive only a fraction of the climate finance and investment compared to Western countries.
Africa accounts for about 4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, but is also one of the regions worst hit by climate change. Nearly 20 African leaders at the meeting argued that countries need access to financing to better prepare their economies for the effects of warming temperatures.
The declaration also called for a “comprehensive and systemic response” to Africa’s debt crisis, arguing that it is essential to “create the fiscal space all developing countries need to finance development and climate action”.
Ghanaian Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said: “We want a global financial system that is fit for the climate. way, and create new resources through guarantees and credit enhancements to offset the high cost of capital for climate investments.”
Leaders also supported scrapping fossil fuel subsidies and phasing out coal, but stopped short of calling for oil and gas to be phased out.
climate capital
Climate change meets business, markets and politics. Explore the FT’s coverage here.
Are you curious about the FT’s commitment to environmental sustainability? Learn more about our science-based goals here
Svlook
