At the ACS, Ban Ki-moon, 8th UN Secretary-General & BKMC Co-chair highlighted, climate change is a global crisis, yet the impacts are felt locally.

VIENNA, AUSTRIA, September 11, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- “I would like to extend my gratitude to the government of Kenya and the African Union Commission for hosting this timely event to highlight the solutions Africa has to offer when it comes to tackling the climate crisis. I am especially grateful to the many representatives at this summit for their commitment to advancing climate adaptation and sustainable agriculture,” said Ban Ki-moon, Co-chair of the BKMC, as he welcomed guests to the High-Level Side Event hosted by the BKMC and The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), on the second day of the Africa Climate Summit.

The Africa Climate Summit brought together several heads of state and government, ministers and UN leaders from Africa, Europe and the US. The BKMC was represented in Nairobi by Co-chair Ban Ki-moon and CEO Monika Froehler with three official side-events in collaboration with FAO, PACJA, and UNDP focusing on providing a platform to young and women smallholder farmers as well as agricultural research institutions such as CGIAR to talk about the biggest current challenges and real solutions. Panelists included Ban Ki-moon, Dr. Abebe Haile-Gabriel, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa, Hon. Girma Amente, Minister of Agriculture, Ethiopia, Hon. Eamon Ryan, Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications of Ireland and more.

In 2009, the G20 countries pledged to accelerate their efforts to reduce emissions and provide $100bn in annual climate finance for developing countries by 2020, which has not been met as of today. We need to live up to the 100 billion pledge for adaptation and mitigation efforts. To ensure food security, adaptation finance needs to be doubled. Especially to agricultural adaptation. In this context, Ban Ki-moon said “If global leaders invest in agricultural research and innovation, we can achieve this goal. Channeling more funding to global networks like CGIAR, will accelerate the development of technologies that can be adopted by the most vulnerable smallholder farmers.”

If we really want to tackle the climate crisis, we need to put people at the center of all our conversations and efforts. As Africa is the world’s most affected continent by climate change and many countries are highly dependent on agriculture, supporting and building the resilience of smallholder farmers, especially women and youth, is needed now more than ever. In her speech BKMC CEO Froehler emphasized, “It is our call to build the bridges between all those different stakeholders and encourage global leaders to take bold action and continuously sharpen their focus on the most vulnerable to the climate crisis – and this substantially includes smallholder farmers.” 

Meeting more than twenty Ban Ki-moon Centre changemakers from all over Africa who take action for climate change on a local, regional and international level, Ban Ki-moon voiced a clear message throughout the summit “This is our opportunity to call on global leaders, decision makers and changemakers alike to support research institutes to innovate, develop, and disseminate solutions to make climate-resilient, sustainable agriculture the most attractive and widely adopted option for smallholder farmers everywhere by 2030.”

Following the Africa Climate Summit, the BKMC will work to galvanize multistakeholder support around The BKMC Youth AgriChampions and bring their demands to COP28 in Dubai later this year. “Visionary and proactive partnerships must be at the heart of our efforts in the transformation of the agricultural sector for the benefit of those on the frontline of climate change.”

About Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens

The Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens’ mission is to foster leadership for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement by inspiring current decision makers and empowering the next generation of changemakers. Working with governments, civil society, academia, and international organizations, the BKMC reaches more than 700,000 people around the world. Located in Vienna, Austria, the BKMC is co-chaired by the 8th Secretary-General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, and the 11th President of the Republic of Austria, Heinz Fischer.

Katre Olmez
Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens
email us here
Visit us on social media:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Instagram

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.