Africa Climate Week is an opportunity to lobby for divestment in the biggest drivers of climate change, says ActionAid International
Monrovia, Liberia, Release – As governments, multilateral organizations, private sector players, and civil society from across Africa converge in Nairobi, Kenya, for the 2023 Africa Climate Week and the Africa Climate Summit, ActionAid says leaders must focus on the urgent need to divest from fossil fuels and industrial agriculture, the biggest drivers of climate change.
“As African leaders and policymakers deliberate in Nairobi, they must focus on increasing support for investments in real climate solutions such as renewable energy and agroecology. The huge and illogical financial flows to harmful industrial agriculture and fossil fuels simply can’t continue. Real communities and real families are counting on it.” Teresa Anderson, ActionAid’s Global Lead on Climate Justice, said.
The Africa Climate Summit and parallel events during Africa Climate Week come against the backdrop of increasing temperatures, and extreme weather conditions such as recurrent droughts, and floods, that are threatening food security and livelihoods.
Mary Sakala, a smallholder farmer from Zambia, said, “In Mumbwa, where I live, families are sleeping on empty stomachs, water tables have gone lower than expected, making it impossible to irrigate crops to supplement the deficit for our food due to poor harvests recorded.
“Our animals travel as far as six to seven kilometers in search of water to drink, as our nearby wells and boreholes only yield water for drinking and a few domestic uses,” she added.
With global temperatures continuing to
rise, vulnerable communities in the Global South will be the most affected. Africa Climate Week presents an opportunity to reflect and, crucially, take action on those financial flows driving the climate crisis. Governments and the private sector must commit to stemming flows of money to harmful industries such as fossil fuels and industrial agriculture, and instead drastically ramping up much needed public funds for agroecology and renewables.
“The events in Nairobi come at a crucial time, as it is clear commitments by the Global North to address the climate crisis have not been met with action. ActionAid and our partners are spelling out the bold steps that the financial sector and government must take, urgently.” says Peter Kamalingin, ActionAid International’s Africa and Global Policy and Program Strategy Director.
