Nairobi: The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Willie Aucamp, has called on African leaders to mainstream climate change adaptation and resilience across their planning and budgets. “Droughts, floods, cyclones, sea level rise, and heat extremes already cost lives and livelihoods every year. Let us partner to build robust investment pipelines that convert plans into projects, and projects into resilience on the ground,” the Minister said on Thursday.
According to South African Government News Agency, addressing the Ministerial Breakfast Meeting of the African Ministers of Environment taking place on the margins of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) sessions in Nairobi, Kenya, Aucamp emphasized that Africa is at the frontline of the triple planetary crisis – climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. He urged for clear priorities and practical solutions, anchored in solidarity, equality, and sustainability, which have been central to recent African and Group Twenty (G20) deliberations, and which must now translate into measurable action.
The Minister highlighted the importance of a just energy transition that expands access while cutting emissions, noting that over 600 million Africans still lack electricity, and nearly a billion rely on biomass for cooking, framing energy poverty as a climate and health emergency. Aucamp expressed Africa’s readiness to scale solar and wind energy, mini grids, clean cooking solutions, and regional power pools, contingent on fair financing terms and community-inclusive projects.
Aucamp also stressed the need to address pollution and waste through a circular economy approach, as envisioned in the African Union Continental Circular Economy. He emphasized that the time for talking has passed, and action is required, with Africa prepared to lead with solutions that protect people and the planet, strengthen economies, and deepen regional integration. The Minister called for matching ambition with delivery, turning commitments into credible, financed, and implementable programs that transform lives across the continent.