Environment, Climate Change and Forestry Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya has called on the African Climate Summit participants to come up with ways to reduce the carbon footprint in the continent.
Speaking during the opening ceremony of the summit, Tuya said the delegates should work towards exploiting Africa's abandoned resources, to achieve this.
She insisted that the climate summit provides an opportunity to foster a renewed approach towards climate change.
Tuya said the climate change debate has changed and it is now focused on justice, as opposed to being an environmental problem.
"The summit presents an opportunity to develop and present a new and bold vision for Africa with tremendous potential, abandoned opportunities that can be used to solve the climate crisis. Use the next three days to explore options of how we optimise Africa's abandoned human resources to leapfrog towards a low carbon economy while opening new opportunities for climate finance, trade, investments, innovation resilience and green jobs," she said.
"The climate change debate has entered a new era. It's no longer just about tackling an environmental or development problem but about addressing climate change in the context of justice."
The inaugural Africa Climate Summit, championed by President William Ruto aims to address the increasing exposure to climate change and its associated costs, both globally and particularly in Africa.
The summit is expected to also look into ways of helping African countries vulnerable to adverse effects of climate change cope with the same.
It will also serve as a platform to inform, frame, and influence commitments, pledges, and outcomes, ultimately leading to the development of the Nairobi Declaration.
The five-day event is happening at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre.
It will run from September 4 - September 8, 2023.
