Kenya has officially joined the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI), a climate-change-combating Initiative aimed at building a greener future for generations, while fostering economic diversification, creating jobs, and attracting private sector investment.
Environment Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale in a statement on Wednesday October 16 announced that Kenya officially joined MGI during an inaugural ministerial meeting of the multilateral climate change forum held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The Middle East Green Initiative is a climate-change-combating Initiative catalyzing a collaborative regional approach.
Inaugurated in 2021 by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, MGI is a first-of-its-kind regional alliance formed to mitigate the specific way climate change is impacting the Middle East and North Africa.
Duale further said that Kenya joins ten other nations in the forum focused on tackling climate change.
“Kenya has officially joined the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI) during an inaugural ministerial meeting of the multilateral climate change forum held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Along with 10 other nations namely Algeria, Chad, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Lebanon, The Gambia, Nigeria, Guinea, Central African Republic and The United Kingdom (Observer Status), Kenya became part of the multilateral forum focused on tackling climate change through collaboration and green investments,” CS Duale said.
“Launched in 2021, MGI targets countries in Central Asia, West Asia, North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa, aiming to drive environmental action and knowledge exchange.”
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Kenya joins Middle East Green Initiative
Director/Lead for Middle Eastern Affairs at the State Department for Foreign Affairs Abdishakur Hussein also congratulated Duale’s ministry for the achieve, noting that Environmental Diplomacy is a key focus area of the country’s foreign policy.
“Environmental Diplomacy is a key focus area of Kenya’s Foreign Policy, and we shall use every tool from the toolbox to identify, develop, and advance shared priorities in the Environment space with our Middle Eastern partners,” he said.
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Anchored by two ambitious targets, focused on region-wide emissions reduction and afforestation, MGI’s clearly defined roadmap is accelerating regional climate action.
According to its website, Saudi Arabia is playing a leading role in establishing the centers and programs that will enable the region to deliver against the MGI targets and help attract investment in key focus areas such as the circular carbon economy and afforestation.
The MGI Governance framework was agreed in October 2022 by founding member countries, with a dedicated MGI secretariat due to be established in Riyadh.
MGI also seeks to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 670 million tons, contributing 10% of global efforts.
This will help build a greener future for the Middle East by improving air quality, preventing soil erosion, providing wildlife habitats, and absorbing carbon dioxide to mitigate climate change.
Green Investment Fund
Kenya’s entry into MGI comes days after the government revealed that it is in the process of setting up a Green Investment Fund in partnership with the World Bank.
The Principal Secretary State Department for Investment Promotion in the Ministry of Trade Abubakar Hassan in a statement, on October 9, announced that the government is in the process of setting up the Kenya Green Investment Fund in line with the Kenya Kwanza’s green transition agenda.
According to the PS, the Kenya Green Investment Fund which will be set up will have an initial seed capital of US$ 40 M (Ksh5.1 billion).
While revealing details of the Fund, PS Abubakar said that the government is planning to scale it up to US$200 M seed capital.
He met the Qatar Investment Authority Chief Investment Officer in charge of the African Region to pitch the Kenya Green Investment Fund while seeking a partnership to scale it up.
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