Summit remarks · 5 June 2024
I thank for you integrating climate action into the agenda of this summit, and for inviting me to discuss this important issue.
We can no longer deny that the world is in the grip of a massive climate change crisis. The intensifying onslaught of unprecedented extreme weather events and their impacts everywhere are parts of the new reality we must all learn to live with.
Over the past few months, my country and the wider East Africa region have endured flood levels never seen before, which resulted in tremendous devastation, including the loss of lives and disruption of livelihoods. This season of destruction follows soon after the longest and most intense drought, which lasted for five consecutive seasons, and similarly left much death, destruction and loss in its wake.
You must be aware that Kenya is a largely clean energy country with over 93% of our national power grid generated from renewable hydro, geothermal, wind and solar energy sources. I say this because Korea and Korean industries are our partners in a number of the projects contributing to this achievement.
This is the rationale of our ambition to enhance our current grid from 3GW currently to 100GW by 2040. The ambition is realistic because Kenya is endowed with abundant potential in every type of renewable. 6. 2023 was a pivotal year for transition to renewable energy. This is because COP28 called for tripling of renewable energy capacity and doubling of energy efficiency by 2030. On their part, African leaders endorsed the Nairobi Declaration, which set the continent's green power generation target at five-fold from 56GW in 2022 to at least 300GW by 2030.
It is encouraging to note that the largest increase in renewable energy capacity was recorded last year, with the addition of about 500GW globally as a result of the injection of $600 billion in new investments.
Africa, whose untapped potential of renewables is by far the highest in the world, could only manage 3GW of this increase. The continent with the world’s greatest potential and the highest demand currently accounts for a paltry 1.6% of the world’s total renewable energy capacity.
That is why at COP28 last year, we launched the Africa Green Industrialisation Initiative to promote the growth of clean energy manufacturing and seize the economic opportunities within the global transition to energy transition. This can be achieved by mobilising $1 trillion from public and private finance by 2030.
There is a huge opportunity for South Korean industries and investors to leverage the comparative advantages of Kenya and other African countries in clean energy by establishing reliable supply chain networks, decarbonising production and consumption and growing African and Korean economies. Thank you.