Dear Sharers, We had an incredibly useful plenary to help us prep for all the summits in September and beyond! Please see below for four strategic observations - starting with the shared positioning around the Africa Climate Summit and Africa Climate Week. As noted, it was an honour to co-chair with Bogolo Kenewendo and hear from such great speakers from across the continent and beyond as we think through how the Africa Climate Summit (ACS), Africa Climate Week (ACW), Finance in Common, the Open Government Partnership Summit, G20, UNGA add up to more than the sum of their parts for the momentous change needed – especially as we then look to Marrakesh and COP28 in October/November.
Please find partners' events here (we know there is much more to be found on the ACS and ACW websites).
Here are some op-eds and interviews featuring key leaders around next week's summits, including thoughts from Africa Climate Foundation, Wanjira Mathai and Joseph Nganga and a preview of a great new report from ONE (password “interest-cost-preview") on the outrageous interest rates African borrowers pay – the press conference was held on Sunday 3rd September – here is the link to watch.
Here are some of our observations on the shared strategic messaging based on these op-eds and the exchanges from our last plenary:
Firstly, we need the global north policymakers driving mild MDB reform to understand that the $200 bn additional lending (over ten years) they are discussing is a start but not the place to land. The speed, scale and quality must be dramatically expanded. For example, the callable capital of MDBs must be included further in calculations of how much more they can lend. This is not just on World Bank’s senior staff and other MDBs but, above all, on their major shareholders. They must do far more, far faster, or the geoeconomic offer falls incredibly short in the task of defeating poverty and defending both the planet and democracy. $20 bn annually of additional lending misses the enormous opportunity of rapidly reaching a world where we have defunded fossil fuel kleptocrats and autocrats and fully funded cheap, clean energy and opportunity for all. All partners must understand we need a reformed, re-energised MDB system to increase public investment and drive down interest rates and borrowing costs for EMDEs to help get us to this great place.
Secondly, we need far more climate and development grant finance, in particular, to help deliver on climate-development justice. For example, the Green Climate Fund needs more support, but many more mechanisms need replenishing over the next few years to deal with a range of issues adjacent to climate action across the SDGs, including poverty, health, education, gender, biodiversity, and agriculture, as well as humanitarian crises. We need to build the case for more in all these and not let them be traded off against each other. We can do this by building on the win-wins and co-benefits of investing as an integrated climate-and-development system, not as silos.
Thirdly, we need to hear the exciting new narrative – and investment opportunity – about climate positivity and green growth entrepreneurialism driven by African and other Global South innovators determined to be the solution to the global climate crisis, not just stuck at the frontline of its worst impacts.
But most of all, and building on the above, African and Global South citizens' ownership of the specific investments and financial system change process overall is crucial - across MDB reform, borrowers' clubs, IMF quota reform, trade and investment frameworks, a seat at the G20, and ensuring carbon credit markets are credible and not greenwashing. National and local actors (not just governments) should have the tools to own, measure and verify win-win results with the latest best data – and help hold us all accountable for the systemic shortfall. The recent spate of coups is a sobering reminder of the importance of functioning democracies and meaningful citizen engagement.
Those are four key things we've heard. It would be great if you could share your thoughts and let us know if these four points sound right, and please feed them into your summitry strategy for September.
We would love to hear what you think.
Keep on sharing! Cheers! The Sharing Strategies Team