Kenyan Delegation led by President Ruto at GCA floating headquarters.
His Excellency William S. Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, visited the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) floating headquarters in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on 7 May 2022 to participate in a Strategic Dialogue on the Africa Climate Summit.
The Africa Climate Summit is being co-hosted by the Government of Kenya and the African Union Commission on 4th to 6th September 2023, and is co-convened by the African Development Bank and GCA. The visit follows a meeting between Professor Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of GCA and President Ruto in Nairobi in February 2023 where they discussed driving the implementation and financing of climate adaptation through the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP).
As the only international organization focused exclusively on climate adaptation, GCA is working closely with the Government of Kenya to mobilize financial commitments for adaptation during the Africa Climate Action Summit. The Strategic Dialogue discussed developing Adaptation Country Investment Compacts and other mechanisms to determine each country's adaptation investment needs and financing opportunities. The Summit will coalesce partners, including international financial institutions and the private sector, around accelerating adaptation financing and climate action leading into the United Nations Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit and COP28.
The President, who is the Chair of the African Union’s Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change, was welcomed to the city of Rotterdam and the GCA Headquarters by GCA CEO Professor Verkooijen; the Mayor of Rotterdam, Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb; Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (2002-2010) and GCA Executive Board Member and Feike Sijbesma, Board of Trustees, World Economic Forum, GCA Co-Chair.
Speaking during the dialogue, His Excellency William S. Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, said: “The world is now edging close and closer towards the brink of a climate disaster whose warning signs so far are the most catastrophic environmental and atmospheric phenomena humankind has ever encountered. The GCA exists to remind us of these fundamental truths, and to mobilize and empower effective responses in ways that are both reassuring and inspiring.”
Professor Patrick Verkooijen highlighted the importance of the Africa Climate Summit to mobilize climate finance for adaptation:
“African countries are at ground zero of our climate emergency – they are already losing up to 15% of GDP growth due to climate change even though they are responsible for only 3% of global emissions. They must be given the chance to survive and thrive even as they suffer the impacts of a crisis they did not cause. Africa has the solutions but it needs climate finance and investment. I commend President Ruto for his leadership in hosting the Africa Climate Summit and look forward to the real and tangible commitments it will deliver.” (GCA)
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