U.S. and Kenya Partner on Climate and International Financial Reform 

WASHINGTON — President Biden today hosted President Ruto of Kenya for a State Visit to announce strengthened commitments and cooperation on climate, debt reform and other priority issues. President Ruto is elevating the leadership from both Kenya as well as the African Union in addressing pressing global challenges.   

Yamide Dagnet, senior vice president for International at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), made the following statement: 

“Today’s announcement, in the context of a renewed green industrial African framework, conveys Kenya’s continued leadership on climate action and recenters the African Continent’s aspirations for prosperous, greener and resilient global economies in global partnerships.  

“The U.S. should continue to deepen its investment in Africa to spur climate-positive economic development on the continent. Swift delivery of debt reform, on top of the climate finance pledged today, is critical to pave the way for a more inclusive and sustainable economy, especially for the world’s most vulnerable developing countries that contributed the least to the climate crisis.” 

BACKGROUND 

President Biden and President Ruto are launching a partnership to alleviate crushing debt burdens and create space for countries to invest in climate-smart development. They are also committing to partner on clean energy, specifically elevating industrial partnerships and clean energy supply chains. 

Specifically, the U.S. is embracing the vision of the African Green Industrial Initiative (AGII) that Kenya helped lead to support critical investments in clean energy technologies and manufacturing. 

The two countries also emphasized the need to bring climate finance solutions together as a single package across institutions to make it easier for countries to address these challenges together. 

Through the partnership, the U.S. and Kenya also intend to work to reform the multilateral development banks to take better action on climate change through increased funding pledges, operational changes to make investments that cut across borders, collaborating around an International Development Association that better responds to and supports climate-vulnerable countries, and a private sector guarantee platform. 

Other topics of note include action on EV supply chains and e-mobility, clean cooking, and green data centers.  

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).