France-Kenya high-level declaration on raising climate ambition (6 April 2024)

The Ministers agreed to strengthen the bilateral cooperation between France and Kenya on climate and recalled the importance of taking concrete action in this critical decade to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement, emphasizing that 2025 will mark its’ 10th anniversary. They recognized their respective leadership in this endeavour.

They recalled the objective of limiting the global average temperature increase to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change. They further called for scaled up efforts to keep 1.5 alive and encouraged all the Parties to revisit and submit new ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions, by February 2025, as planned by the Paris Agreement and the outcome of the first global stocktake.

In this regard, they expressed their intention to redouble their efforts in order to achieve meaningful results at COP29 and COP30.

The Ministers emphasized the urgency to effectively, concretely and rapidly implement the UAE Consensus, including on the just and equitable transition away from fossil fuels, calling for the adoption of a clear timeline that would start with the phasing out of coal. Recalling that their electric mixes are highly decarbonized, they called for further deployment of decarbonised technologies and underlined the need for a just transition that leaves no one behind. They therefore expressed their support for the Global renewable energy and energy efficiency pledge launched at COP28, recognizing the critical role of zero- and low-emission technologies and energy efficiency to the achievement of sustainable development including ensuring economic growth, job creation, green industrial development and improved lives and livelihoods. They called to strengthen access to sustainable energy and welcomed the Africa’s green industrialisation initiative and transition launched by Kenya.

The Ministers called for the adoption by the end of 2024 of an ambitious, effective and legally-binding international treaty to end plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, addressing the full lifecycle of plastics, and plastic pollution in all its dimensions, including primary plastic polymers and associated chemicals.

The Ministers emphasized the need to further preserve, protect and restore critical ecosystems, including forests and other wooded land, wetlands such as peatlands and mangroves and ocean, that are the main natural carbon sinks and biodiversity reservoirs. To this end, the Ministers committed to work together towards the protection of 30% of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, both at bilateral and multilateral levels, in line with the Kunming Montreal global biodiversity framework agreed the CBD COP15 and through the conclusion and implementation of “country-packages”. They also called for high integrity carbon markets and standards to increase much-needed financial flows for climate and biodiversity while fostering sustainable development. They further called to reach the highest level of ambition regarding the protection of the ocean at the next UN Ocean Conference in Nice in June 2025.

The Ministers recognised the pressing challenges and the significant needs of most vulnerable countries. They emphasized the need to accelerate the implementation of adaptation measures on the ground to reduce the vulnerability of our societies.

The Ministers underlined the necessity to urgently scale up global climate finance. While noting the reaching of the $100 billion goal in 2022 as reported by OECD, they called for an increased level of climate finance from all countries in a capacity to do so, including financial contributions coming from the private sector, and innovative sources.

In this regard, they called for the implementation of the “Nairobi Declaration” and the “Paris Pact for People and the Planet”. Recognizing the importance of mobilizing additional financial resources from different sources, they called for countries to join the taskforce on international taxation to scale up development and climate action launched by France, Kenya and Barbados, as well as the Expert Review on Debt, Nature and Climate led by Colombia, France, Germany, and Kenya