Euroviews. Will we keep thinking of Africa even after COP28?

COP28’s historic agreement to phase down fossil fuels embodies, in a way, a paraphrasing of Winston Churchill’s famous quip: not the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning in a long and important struggle waged over the future of the environment writ large.

Nowhere is this more true than in Africa. While Western media tend to dub the continent as “the world economy’s biggest problem”, there are a lot of problems with that sentiment, not least that the inverse is true.

While Africa produces less than 4% of cumulative carbon emissions, the world's second most populous continent will be home to one out of four people on the planet by 2050. 

It quickly becomes apparent that Africa can play a key role in a future global green economy and might be our biggest source of hope with the right investments, and it will be critical for African nations to further their development in line with broader environmental goals.

In this regard, it is worth noting that COP28 marked an important step forward for the goals laid out in the Nairobi declaration in September at Africa’s first-ever Climate Week. 

The historic event saw 19 African leaders travel to Kenya — the biggest international summit in the country's history just by the number of participating states.

The choice of Kenya was fitting. The country is at the vanguard of so many issues on climate change. 

President of Kenya William Ruto has described carbon credits as an “unparalleled economic gold mine” and has promoted tree-planting and other environmental initiatives.

Congested yet lovable, Nairobi is also an important proving ground for the future of e-mobility partly because delivery services of foods, medicines and more remain vital. 

The government has invested in charging