Pledges made at first Africa Climate Summit ‘very powerful signal’ but must lead to ‘real action,’ UN official Simon Stiell tells Anadolu

Extreme weather patterns being seen around the world are “just a sign of things to come,” the UN’s top climate official has warned.

All these climate disasters, from droughts to wildfires and floods, serve as stark reminders of the urgent need for accelerated action, Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), told Anadolu in an exclusive interview in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

“What we are seeing are the impacts and effects of climate change now accelerating, and it’s just amazing in the last few years, very recent times, we’ve seen records broken over and over again, and this is just a sign of things to come,” he said.

Stiell, who was in Nairobi for the inaugural Africa Climate Summit, was referring to extreme weather events including the current drought in East Africa, particularly affecting Kenya, where the summit was held.

The drought, the region’s worst in at least 40 years, has displaced millions of people and pushed millions more to the brink of famine.

Last year, there was a locust invasion in East Africa that experts said was the worst for Kenya in 70 years and at least 25 years for Ethiopia and Somalia.

About the summit, Stiell said the significant pledges made at the event have raised hopes for concrete efforts, but the challenge lies in their actual implementation.

The event brought together leaders and decision-makers from across Africa to confront the climate crisis head-on, providing “an opportunity to lay out not only Africa’s priorities, but also coming forward with solutions,” he said.