The Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan has told delegates at the first Africa Climate Summit in Kenya that Ireland remained committed to the doubling of adaptation finance to support developing countries build resilience against the growing impacts of climate change.
Mr Ryan is attending the summit in Nairobi which has brought together heads of state, environmental experts, and policymakers to tackle issues which are threatening livelihoods, food security and economic stability across the African continent - even though its 1.3 billion people contribute the least to global warming.
Speaking at the 'Adaptation to Climate Change' session, the minister told delegates that the scale of the climate crisis required a "commensurate response".
He said: "It has to be large. From an Irish perspective, we send something like 93% of our climate finance on adaptation, because we think it's the missing link and we need to target the most vulnerable countries, where the problems are at their worst.
"We are committing to doubling our adaptation financing, as was agreed at COP26 in Glasgow. Let's get there first and then it's easier to go for the trebling. But we commit to doubling it by 2025."
During his presentation, Mr Ryan told delegates about the work that the Government was currently undertaking in various African countries.
Minister @EamonRyan is speaking at the @AfClimateSummit 2023 #ACS2023.
— Dept. Environment, Climate and Communications (@Dept_ECC) September 4, 2023
You can watch the livestream of the summit here: https://t.co/xIeXH24eTH
Find out more here: https://t.co/WUg0AJN07M pic.twitter.com/CV51Ak3AIc
Highlighting a project in Malawi, he said, "It's regenerative agriculture, it's down to the field, it’s down to the soil, it’s down to protecting the future in soil and clever farming management."
The second day of the Africa Climate Summit saw financial pledges from multiple countries towards combating climate change.
The United Arab Emirates announced a $4.5 billion (€4.19bn) pledge towards clean energy initiatives.
Germany announced a €55.9 million fund towards a green hydrogen project in Kenya, as part of a larger €419 million pledge.
The United States pledged $30 million (€27.9 million) to support climate resilience and food security efforts.
