Climate Summit, an opportunity to change history - Tuya
Africa has a date with destiny to counter the climate crisis in the content during the ongoing Climate Summit at the KICC, Environment, Climate Change and Forestry CS Soipan Tuya has said. https://bit.ly/3Z4Kje4
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00:00 History documents that Africa, and Kenya in particular,
00:05 is the cradle of mankind.
00:07 It is my hope and prayer that out of the cradle of mankind
00:14 comes the all time elusive solution
00:18 to combating climate change.
00:20 African led solutions to decarbonize
00:25 and steer a low carbon development pathway for the globe.
00:30 We are gathered here today to make history
00:35 as a continent of Africa.
00:37 The world is facing many challenges,
00:41 but none has become so apparent,
00:44 so threatening, and so devastating
00:48 as the threat of climate change.
00:50 And we can only respond by making history
00:54 at this inaugural Africa Climate Summit.
00:58 Everywhere we look in Africa,
01:01 there is a climate change related story to tell.
01:04 For example, in Malawi, Hurricane Freddie
01:09 led to the loss of 200 people,
01:12 and nearly two billion worth,
01:15 two billion US dollars worth of damage occasioned.
01:21 Last year, the Horn of Africa came out
01:25 of one of the worst droughts in decades,
01:28 where we lost hundreds of lives and thousands of livestock.
01:33 In fact, for the first time in Kenya,
01:36 we had to track water for our wildlife
01:39 in the national parks and reserves.
01:42 Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
01:46 although African countries are making every available effort
01:51 to deal with the vagaries of climate change,
01:54 our economies are continuing to be weighed down
01:58 by mounting debts.
02:00 As we speak, 31 out of the 37 heavily indebted
02:05 poor countries in the world are in Africa.
02:09 Over 20 years of climate change negotiations
02:14 have yielded agreements and promises
02:17 that have delivered very little for Africa.
02:20 Instead, the imagery of Africa as a poor continent,
02:25 a victim, keep dominating the climate negotiations
02:30 year in, year out.
02:32 The fact that Africa has historically contributed
02:36 very little to the global emissions
02:39 has remained an inconvenient truth,
02:43 yet receiving no reciprocity from the rest of the world
02:48 for the contribution we make.
02:50 Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
02:55 this inaugural Africa Climate Summit
02:58 presents an opportunity like no other for Africa
03:02 to change the course of history.
03:05 Millions of young Africans are looking up
03:08 to African leaders here to leave them with a promise,
03:13 a visible promise, to make them feel that there is a future
03:19 where they have hope to get green jobs,
03:23 live a dignified life, and thrive.
03:27 We are looking to the summit to chart a green growth pathway
03:32 for the African continent, set the stage for Africa
03:36 to lead the globe towards a more ecologically
03:40 responsible global industrialization
03:43 catalyzed by financing that is accessible,
03:47 adequate, and affordable.
03:49 The world is waiting for something anew out of this week.
03:55 We must not be held hostage to the past,
03:59 but allow ourselves to reimagine a future
04:03 where as Africa we lift ourselves
04:07 from the fatigue of despair and make history.
04:10 Excellencies, I am persuaded that the time is now
04:15 and I beseech us to respond to this historical call
04:19 by proposing radical solutions to the world
04:23 that will help us deal with the climate change.
04:27 I invite us to listen to the inner urge
04:30 calling us to serve humanity, that we go down in history,
04:35 that it is out of Africa, the cradle of mankind,
04:39 that the solution for climate change came forth.
04:43 (silence)
04:45 [BLANK_AUDIO]