Nairobi, 13 September, 2023 / 7:50 pm (ACI Africa).
Africa’s leaders who gathered in the Kenyan capital city, Nairobi, for the three-day inaugural Africa Climate Summit (ACS) that concluded on September 6 did not address the “real” environmental issues on the continent, a Catholic activist has lamented, and termed the gathering “a diplomatic show”.
In an interview with ACI Africa, the Programs Coordinator for Francophone Africa at Laudato Si’ Movement (LSM) said that while the ACS “was a great opportunity for Africans and the Global South to consolidate their voice and their position, as well as demonstrating their strength before the Global North”, the leaders failed to communicate decisions on how climate issues can be addressed.
“I did not hear them talking about real issues. It was a diplomatic show, the same language of pledging fake promises,” Steeven Kezamutima said during the Monday, September 11 interview.
Kezamutima said Africa’s leaders who participated in the Nairobi Summit ought to have called off the fossil fuel projects on the world’s second-largest and second-most populous continent.
“We are all aware that the fossil fuel industry is one of the causes of global warming. It is causing a lot of harm to our common home, causing poverty in Africa, lack of peace, and social injustice,” he further said.
