President William Ruto has called on the Western world to stop blaming each other and work together to tackle climate change.
While speaking during a strategic dialogue on the African Climate Action Summit held at the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) in Netherlands the head of state noted that climate change is a threat to everyone, adding that all countries must work together or perish together.
President Ruto noted that climate change has become part of every conversion worldwide citing education, water provision, agriculture, trade, security, and health.
“Climate change is a global threat. It’s not about who contributed to it or not. It’s about how we work together to address it,” he said.
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Present at the summit were former Prime Minister of the Netherlands Jan Peter Balkenende, Mayor of Rotterdam Ahmed Aboutaleb, Africa Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment Josefa Leonel Sacko, CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) Prof. Patrick Verkooijen, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon(Virtually), and Environment Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya.
Moreover, President Ruto urged developed countries to provide the expertise to leverage Africa’s abundant renewable energy.
“Africa is not coming to the table as a victim of climate change but as a partner with the solution to the problem,” he stated.
Furthermore, he called for the expansion of the mitigation plans to climate financing and investment.
Likewise, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon who attended the summit virtually lauded President Ruto for leading the campaign on climate change action.
Mr. Moon called on multilateral organizations to support the Africa Climate Action summit that will be hosted in Kenya in September.
“2023 will be a pivotal year on how the world will respond to climate change,” he said.