President William Ruto has called on African leaders to attend the United Nations climate change conference later in the year in a united voice.
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00:00On the International Financial Reform Agenda, a central theme of the Nairobi Declaration,
00:07I am pleased to report progress on two initiatives launched at COP28.
00:13The Global Solidarity Levy Task Force, as one initiative, and the Expert Review on Debt,
00:21Nature and Climate.
00:24These initiatives are gaining traction, with many countries joining to support sustainable
00:29development, climate action and nature conservation.
00:34As climate-related shocks become more frequent and severe, coupled with high debt surfacing,
00:39government spending on green resilience is constrained.
00:45High interest rates and credit downgrades also make refinancing costly, and therefore
00:51we must continue to advocate for debt sustainability and the reform of the international financial
00:56system to ensure climate justice.
01:01On the subject of reform, I have written to the incoming COP29 Presidency, and I spoke
01:08to them yesterday, to request a high-level political event during the World Leaders Summit
01:16focusing on measuring the green wealth of nations, specifically natural capital and
01:24economic productivity in Africa.
01:27This event will be led by the Congo-basin countries, and I have spoken to our elder
01:34President Sasson Gweso to lead the way, and the African Development Bank President Adesina
01:40has agreed to take charge of this initiative, aiming to re-index GDP to accurately reflect
01:51the true wealth of our nations.
01:57It is not correct for a wealthy continent like Africa to be classified as poor merely
02:06because our wealth has not been taken into account.
02:12We will be having a meeting next Monday in Congo-Brazzaville, led by the African Development
02:19Bank, with selected 14 countries, to prepare our position for the meeting in COP29.