The following is a transcript of remarks delivered by UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell at the 10th African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, on 5 September 2024. (Portuguese translation of the speech is available here; Arabic translation here)

Excellencies, distinguished guests, colleagues and friends,

Today I want to start with some good news. Climate action is the single greatest economic opportunity of this century.

It can and should be the single greatest opportunity for Africa, to lift up people, communities, and economies, after centuries of exploitation. 

The opportunity is immense. But so too are the costs for African nations of unchecked global heating. 

The continent has been warming at a faster rate than the global average. From Algeria to Zambia, climate-driven disasters are getting worse, inflicting the most suffering on those who did least to cause it. 

In Africa, as in all regions, the climate crisis is an economic sinkhole, sucking the momentum out of economic growth. In fact, many African nations are losing up to 5% of GDP as a result of climate impacts.

Consider food production being hit hard, contributing to the re-emergence of famine, while also pushing up global prices, and with them inflation and the cost of living.

Desertification and habitat destruction are driving forced movements of people. 

Supply chains are already being hit hard by spiralling climate impacts. 

It is African nations and people who are paying the heaviest price. But it would be entirely incorrect for any world leader - especially in the G20 - to think: although this is all incredibly sad, ultimately it’s not my problem.

The economic and political reality – in an interdependent world - is we are all in this crisis together. We rise together, or we fall together. 

But if the climate and economic crises are globally interlinked. So too are the solutions.

So it’s time to flip the script. From potential climate tipping points to exponential changes in business, investment, and growth. Changes that will further strengthen African nations’ climate leadership and vital role in global climate solutions, on all fronts.

At COP28, we concluded the first-ever stocktake of global climate action. 

It showed how much more work is still needed.

In response all nations agreed on some ambitious new commitments. 

To transition away from all fossil fuels quickly, but fairly.

To triple renewable energy. 

To double energy efficiency. 

And to go from responding to climate impacts, to truly transformative adaptation.

I recognize these are big commitments, particularly in regions focused on development.

But delivering on them will unlock a goldmine of human and economic benefits. 

Cleaner, more reliable and affordable energy across Africa.

More jobs, stronger local economies, underpinning more stability and opportunity, especially for women. 

Electrification and lighting at night in the home means kids can do homework, boosting education outcomes, with major flow-on productivity gains driving stronger economic growth.

Cooking with traditional fuels emits greenhouse gases roughly equivalent to global aviation or shipping. It also contributes to 3 million premature deaths every single year.

It would cost 4 billion US dollars annually to fix this in Africa by 2030; an outstanding investment, on any accounting. 

Linking nature-based climate solutions with biodiversity protection and land restoration will drive progress right across the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. 

Yet African nations' vast potential to drive forward climate solutions is being thwarted by an epidemic of underinvestment.

Of the more than $400 billion spent on clean energy last year, only $2.6 billion went to African nations. 

Renewable energy investment in Africa needs to grow at least fivefold by 2030.

COP29 in Baku must signal that the climate crisis is core business for every government, with finance solutions to match. 

Nations must agree a new international climate financial goal. And ensure that it is grounded in the needs of developing countries.

Domestic action and, indeed, domestic finance will remain crucial. But, alone, it is not enough. More support - including more international climate finance - is needed. 

In Baku, we must finally get international carbon markets under Article 6 working.

We must make the Loss and Damage Fund fully operational.

And we must ensure goals on adaptation are realized, financed, and capable of being met. Closing the adaptation finance gap is absolutely crucial.

The climate actions nations choose should be embedded in the new generation of national climate plans - NDCs - due early next year. And in National Adaptation Plans every country must have and, to date, out of 54 African nations, only 29 have submitted national adaptation plans.

Biennial Transparency Reports are also a crucial enabling tool, intended to help governments strengthen climate policies over time. 

We know many countries need help in achieving this. The UN system provides a wide range of practical supports. I urge you to make use of them. We, the UN system, a here to help.

We’ve also taken steps this year to boost the proportion of Observer organizations at COP from the global south, following the guidance from Parties at the June Meetings earlier this year. 

Your role at the three Rio Convention COPs this year - and your voices in the lead-up to them - are more important than ever, to help guide our process to the highest-ambition outcomes the world needs.

So I thank you for your tireless efforts and your crucial leadership, and I urge you to keep up the fight. 

An Africa ascending, an Africa empowered to take bolder climate actions is in every nation's interest. 

UN Climate Change will be with you every step of the way. 

I thank you.