The Africa Climate Summit ended on Wednesday with a resolution to combat climate change through global carbon taxes.
The aim of the Africa Climate Summit was to discuss strategies to fund Africa’s environmental priorities and showcase the continent as the primary destination for climate investment, not as a victim of drought, floods, and famine, as asserted by the IMF.
The resolution, the Nairobi Declaration, was adopted at the end of the three-day Africa Climate Summit, hosted by Kenya’s President William Ruto in the nation’s capital, Nairobi.
According to the statement made public on Wednesday, the document demanded that major polluters contribute more money to aiding developing countries.
African leaders declared that the plan adopted at the climate summit would be the basis of their negotiations at the global COP28 later in November.
President Ruto proposed the introduction of carbon taxes as a way of cushioning the effects of climate change, which often impacts heavily on the finances of the government.
He told delegates, “We must see in green growth, not just a climate imperative but also a fountain of multi-billion dollar economic opportunities that Africa and the world is primed to capitalise.”
The African Climate Summit was dominated by debates about how to mobilise funding for climate adaptation, resource conservation, and the development of renewable energy.
Researchers have shown that Africa is among the most susceptible to the effects of climate change but only receives 12% of the almost $300 billion (£240 billion) in annual funding it requires to survive.
In the Nairobi Declaration released, the attendees told world leaders “to rally behind the proposal for a global carbon taxation regime, including carbon taxes on fossil fuel trade, maritime transport, and aviation, that may also be augmented by a global financial transaction tax”.
A Human Rights activist, Graça Machel, told reporters that the declaration was “a huge step forward”.
“Africa is a player, the world cannot go without having Africa at the centre,” Machal said, adding that “Africa is not here to be helped. Africa is here to offer opportunities, to offer investment, to offer solutions.”
According to the Nairobi Declaration, such actions would secure widespread finance for initiatives related to climate change and shield the debate over tax increases from external and internal political pressures.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that about two dozen nations presently impose taxes on carbon, but the idea of a universal carbon tax regime did not gain much acceptance.
On Tuesday, President Ruto mentioned past European Union proposals, citing the need for a financial transaction tax.
In 2011, Conservation organisations argued that the tax revenue should be used to fund environmental initiatives, but the European Commission’s plan did not receive the necessary support from the European Council to become legislation.
A senior advisor at the Christian Aid charity, Joab Bwire Okanda, said the call for a global carbon tax was a good move but quickly added that “to make polluters really pay, false solutions like carbon credits that allow polluters a free ride without taking meaningful action need to be consigned to the dustbin.”
Some activists say the carbon taxes, which allow polluters to offset emissions by funding green activities, are a pretext for big polluters to keep emitting carbon dioxide.
President Ruto affirmed that international governments, development banks, private investors, and philanthropists pledged a total of $23 billion (£18 billion) to green initiatives during the three-day summit, including hundreds of millions for a significant carbon market initiative.
The African leaders, however, acknowledged that the efforts only go so far in meeting the continent’s financial requirements, adding that further fundamental adjustments were required.
Some commentators claimed that the summit did not devote enough time to assisting African countries in their adaptation to extreme weather conditions.
Some protesters who demonstrated outside the event venue also criticised the climate summit for the plan to sell the continent’s carbon credits to foreign nations.
The Africa Climate Summit recorded financial assistance from several international businesses and nations, including the United Arab Emirates $450m (£358m), amounting to hundreds of millions in carbon credit purchases via the Africa Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI).