President Ruto To Champion Africa’s Climate Agenda At COP27 Conference

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov, 6 – President William Ruto will Sunday lead the Kenyan delegation to the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP 27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

The President who will also be attending the annual conference as the Chair of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change will deliver the Kenyan national statement and a statement on behalf of Africa.

Coming at a time of interlocking crises including energy and food insecurity, and in the midst of the worst drought in 40 years affecting Kenya and the Horn of Africa region, President Ruto is expected to make a strong case for Kenya and Africa, with African nations still bearing the brunt of the impacts of emissions from the developed world.

The President is expected to rally the globe towards a more ambitious climate action, seeking implementation and honoring of commitments made over the past 30 years by countries with the greatest responsibilities for accumulating greenhouse gases causing global warming. He will also be outlining Kenya’s policies and strategies to tap into the global carbon market.

Demonstrably, climate change mitigation and adaptation is at the front and centre of President Ruto’s development agenda, having described it as “a phenomenon complicating the roadmap towards socio-economic transformation and achievement of sustainable development goals in Kenya and Africa.”

Among other interventions, including securing and protecting public forests, the President has already announced an ambitious reforestation program to grow at least 15 billion trees in the next 10 years to ensure Kenya attains 30 per cent tree cover by 2032.