Kenya's Ruto, AfDB's Adesina Say Tackling Climate Depends on ... - Bloomberg
Ruto, Adesina Say Tackling Climate Depends on Africa Debt Fix - Bloomberg
Kenya’s Ruto, AfDB’s Adesina Say Tackling Climate Depends on Africa Debt Fix
- Kenya’s President, AfDB call for pause in interest payments
- Africa is bearing the brunt of climate change, they say
William Ruto drives in an Air EV Yetu mini electric vehicle after attending the Africa Climate Summit. Photographer: Fredrik Lerneryd/Bloomberg
Kenyan President William Ruto and the heads of two major finance and climate institutions said without a 10 to 20 year moratorium on interest payments on foreign debt the world’s poorest continent won’t be able to cope with climate change.
High debt levels built up by African nations during the global pandemic to finance their citizens and economies have left the continent paying more in loan servicing charges than it needs to invest in climate resilience projects, Ruto and his co-writers said in an opinion piece published by the New York Times.
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Kenya’s Ruto, AfDB’s Adesina Say Tackling Climate Depends on Africa Debt Fix
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”