President William Ruto addressing the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt. PHOTO | PCS
Kenya will fully transition to green energy by 2028, President William Ruto has said.
Speaking to CNN, he said continued reliance on fossil fuels was no longer tenable.
“I think leaning on fossil fuel is not an option in the face of the reality of what we know is happening to our globe. We need to make difficult decisions, and the rest of the world needs to help Africa make the difficult decisions, work with the just transition of our energy, work with ensuring that we go green,” said Dr Ruto.
During the interview on the sidelines of the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, the President said Kenya currently gets more than 90 percent of its electricity and 74 percent of its overall energy from renewable sources.
Kenya faces one of the worst droughts in decades following four consecutive seasons of rainfall failure blamed on climate change due to global carbon emissions.
President Ruto said the government has been providing relief food to 4.3 million people facing starvation and they are being forced to feed wildlife for the first time in the country’s history, underscoring the level of urgency with which mitigation measures ought to be put in place.
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Dr Ruto said Kenya has lost 2.2 million heads of livestock this year alone, resulting in losses amounting to Sh1.5 billion dollars.
“I think the fact that we have loss and damage in the agenda is a step in the right direction. More leaders are beginning to appreciate that it’s time for action. And that is why I appreciate though in a small way that this cup in Africa has been labelled the implementation code, and I hope that it will be,” he said.
Earlier at the COP27 summit that ends on November 18, Dr Ruto signed a pact with the UK Premier Rishi Sunak agreeing to fast-track six green projects worth Sh500 billion in efforts aimed at accelerating the flow of climate finance into the country.
At the talks, Sunak hailed President Ruto for what he termed as pioneering climate leadership and urged member states to pursue their COP26 commitments to their full delivery.
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