Kenya to benefit from US fund on climate change

Kenya is among poor countries due to benefit from a financial pledge by the United States for a global campaign against climate change.

On Saturday, US President Barack Obama told students at the University of Queensland in Brisbane that his administration would send a cheque of $3 billion (Sh264 billion) to the Green Climate Fund to help developing nations.

President Obama spoke ahead of the official opening ceremony of the G-20 Summit in Australia, which is a conference of the world’s 20 richest nations and the European Union, and controls more than 80 per cent of the global wealth.

The US leader later specifically addressed Africa on the Ebola issue, telling the rich nations to be mindful of the scourge because the world today is “interlinked.”

READ: Global firms 'undermining' Ebola fight in Africa

“It is not just about charity, it is in our interest. When we stand up including involving the military engagement, we don’t do that just because of charity. It is because we are interlinked,” he argued.

The G-20, he argued, had a duty, even as the lead in economic ventures, to help poor countries strengthen their health care systems and medical research to predict future outbreaks.

Ahead of this meeting though, developing countries and activists had staged a protest after it emerged climate change was not officially on the programme.

Instead, the leaders were to discuss global energy challenges, unemployment, gender gaps, trade imbalances and other political economic issues.

“The G-20 countries have a special role to play in tackling climate change because together they account for more than 80 per cent of global emissions through economic activity,” Dermont O’Gorman from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) told journalists on Friday evening.

“So simply put: climate change needs to be a formal part of the G-20 agenda here in Brisbane this weekend. Civil societies from around the world have consistently said climate change has to be on the agenda.”

Obama’s revelation could have surprised the hosts Australia and even the activists because the US and China had previously been reluctant to come forth about what they will do on climate change.

Earlier in the week though, the two had announced ambitious plans to reverse greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Australia’s Premier Tony Abbot, who is the G-20 chair, had warned leaders to speak “from your hearts” rather than “for the public gallery.”

“I know there has been a healthy debate in this country about it…no nation is immune and every nation has a responsibility to do it. Historically, we have not been the most energy-efficient which means we have got to step up,” Obama countered in his address to students.

“We are very mindful of the great work that still has to be done.”

The Green Climate Fund is part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) as means to redistribute money from rich to poor countries to help them mitigate climate change.

It is supposed to help private firms boost technology, help entrepreneurs engage in green ventures as well as research on better energy use.

The money, he said, would be helpful for farmers in Africa to benefit from research on drought resistant seeds as well as help “developing countries out of this hard choice between development and pollution.”