• Raila Odinga called on G20 nations to provide $1 trillion annually in long-term, grant-based climate financing to help Africa build resilience and escape the cycle of debt and disaster.
• He emphasized that Africa’s energy transition is about moving from no energy to sustainable energy, highlighting the continent’s renewable energy potential.
• Odinga stressed that Africa’s inclusion in the G20 must result in tangible benefits for local communities, particularly through sustainable and equitable development frameworks.
• He urged the G20 to reform global trade systems and finance mechanisms to support Africa’s economic growth and ensure fairer access to development opportunities.
  

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Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has made a plea for the group’s wealthiest nations to take decisive action in addressing Africa’s climate-finance gap, as global leaders convene for the G20 Summit in Brazil. Odinga highlighted this development as a critical opportunity to tackle the continent’s worsening climate vulnerabilities, with the African Union now a permanent member of the G20.

The continent, according to Raila Odinga, is disproportionately affected by increasingly severe floods, droughts, and heat waves, and urgently requires financial assistance to mitigate climate change impacts and achieve sustainable development.

Raila Odinga stressed that Africa’s inclusion in the G20 is long overdue. However, he warned that representation alone is insufficient. The continent, he argued, requires tangible support to address interconnected economic, environmental, and energy challenges.

The energy sector is representative of Africa’s broader struggles. Despite decades of political promises, fossil fuels have failed to deliver electricity to vast parts of the continent. Raila Odinga noted that with 600 million Africans still living without power, Africa’s energy transition is less about replacing dirty energy and more about providing access to sustainable sources.

Fortunately, Africa possesses immense renewable energy potential. Solar power, for example, is projected to become the continent’s cheapest energy source by 2030. Successful projects like Morocco’s Noor Ouarzazate solar complex, Kenya’s Olkaria geothermal power plants, and Ethiopia’s Adama wind farms demonstrate what can be achieved with adequate funding and technical support.

Raila Odinga urged the G20 to make Africa’s renewable energy development a cornerstone of the global push to triple renewable-energy production by 2030. He emphasized that expanded energy capacity could drive green industrial growth, reducing the continent’s reliance on raw-material exports and creating value-added goods.

Odinga called for a transformative shift in how G20 nations approach climate financing. He urged them to move beyond rhetoric and commit to providing $1 trillion annually in long-term, grant-based climate financing for developing countries.

“This is not an arbitrary figure. For the world’s least developed economies, it is the difference between stagnation and genuine progress.” Odinga noted.

Read: Understanding Climate Finance and How We Can Make It More Effective

To achieve this, Raila Odinga has proposed innovative financing mechanisms such as taxes on the ultra-rich, levies on financial transactions, airplane tickets, and fossil-fuel production. Additionally, Odinga has called for reforms to multilateral development banks to increase their capital and simplify bureaucratic processes, ensuring funds reach the communities that need them most.

Beyond climate financing, Raila Odinga stressed the need for comprehensive reforms to global trade systems. Current practices, he argued, perpetuate inequality and stifle economic growth in developing nations. He urged the G20 to dismantle exploitative models and support trade systems that foster equitable development.

The timing of the G20 Summit, coinciding with COP29 in Azerbaijan, adds to the urgency. Raila Odinga criticized past climate conferences for their lofty rhetoric and lack of concrete action, urging the G20 to break this pattern. Odinga urged the world’s largest economies to turn promises into action, emphasizing that Africa cannot afford to wait.