Remarks · 24 September 2025
Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
As we approach the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, the political landscape has become more polarised and uncertain. Yet the urgency of global climate action has never been greater.
This crisis, ladies and gentlemen, is accelerating with devastating consequences across sectors. It drives instability, weakens economies, and forces many countries to divert scarce resources from health, education, and social protection into emergency responses.
At COP30 in Brazil, we must set the highest possible ambition for NDCs, firmly aligned with the 1.5°C pathway.
That was the spirit of the second Africa Climate Summit, where Africa asserted its agency, spoke with one voice, and demanded that global commitments be honoured.
Kenya has already acted. Earlier this year, we submitted our NDC 3.0: bold, economy-wide, and grounded in a whole-of-society approach. Our targets are ambitious, but also hopeful. We offer global solutions for emissions reductions at scale, if adequate financing is provided.
Yet the reality is stark. In our inaugural Biannual Transparency Report, we reported receiving just over $50 million in grants by the end of 2022, against a requirement of $62 billion to fully implement our climate ambitions through 2030.
Fifty million against sixty-two billion. Colleagues, the world has not taken us up on our offer.
And this is not only Kenya’s problem. It is Africa’s problem. A continent that holds 60% of the world’s untapped solar potential attracts less than 2% of global renewable energy investment.
At the same time, endless debate continues over fossil fuel reserves, while our immense endowment of sunlight, wind, and geothermal energy lies underutilised. This, even as millions still lack electricity and clean cooking solutions.
Economic growth and climate action are inseparable. Ignore the climate, and development unravels. Confront the crisis, and new pathways for green, inclusive growth open up. That is why new, predictable, and innovative financing must be unlocked.
At COP28 in Dubai, building on the Nairobi Declaration, we launched the Global Solidarities Levies Taskforce. A first breakthrough came this June, when eight countries — including Kenya — formed a coalition to introduce solidarity levies on premium-class flyers. These initiatives must inform the Baku-toBelém roadmap to mobilise the $1.3 trillion that developing countries urgently need.
Africa is already stepping up. At this year’s Africa Climate Summit, eight leading African financial institutions signed a Cooperation Framework to unlock $100 billion in investment capital. At a time when the world risks fragmentation and a retreat into transactional politics, Africa is leaning forward to shape its own destiny.
We now invite the global community to join us, to stand with us in this noble undertaking. This is the moment to be bolder, to show genuine climate solidarity, and to silence the naysayers. I thank you.