Global leaders have called for a fair deal for Africa at the COP26 conference in Glasgow. This was the clarion call by the leaders, led by President Uhuru Kenyatta, at the launch of the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) “State and Trends in Adaptation in Africa Report 2021 – How Adaptation Can Make Africa Safer, Greener and More Prosperous in a Warming World” (STA21).

The event, held at the University of Nairobi’s Taifa Hall on October 26, 2021, the leaders called for COP26 and development partners to increase resources to the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP). They include Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, Chair of GCA, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group, Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Dr. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, Keriako Tobiko, Cabinet Secretary for the  Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Kenya and Prof. Stephen Kiama, Vice-Chancellor, University of Nairobi, Prof. Dr. Patrick Verkooijen, Chief Executive Officer, Global Center on Adaptation.

In his speech, President Kenyatta cautioned that in the absence of urgent climate change adaptation action, Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) risks contracting by up to 30 percent by the year 2050.

“Evidence indicates that climate change will have a devastating socioeconomic impact across the world and quite severely in Africa. If we do not take any action Africa could, as a consequence, see its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contract by up to 30 percent by 2050 due to climate change,” the President said.

Consequently, the President rallied the global community to support the accelerated roll out of adaptation programmes in Africa so as to mitigate against the growing adverse effects of climate change as well as strengthen the continent’s resilience.

“While it is relatively more difficult to design and implement adaptation projects and while fewer resources are currently available for adaptation, we should not lose sight of the fact that adaptation is, without doubt, smart economics,” he said. “To make this paradigm shift, we will lean on our institutions of higher learning. The University of Nairobi is one of the few African Universities, that offer graduate programmes in climate adaptation. It demonstrates the importance of Government of Kenya attaches to the issue of adaptation. I am hoping that this session, will open new opportunities to the University of Nairobi and the other forward learning institutions in our country”