The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Rwanda, Ozonnia Ojielo, commended Rwanda’s climate action and called for investors to tap into green growth investment opportunities in the country. He was speaking during the recently concluded 27th UN climate change conference, COP27. He said that investors are urged to come to Rwanda considering that the country is acknowledged as a pacesetter in national responses to climate change effects. Rwanda is like a laboratory of ideas in Africa, and the UN system is very excited to work with the government and people, including the youth. I would tell potential investors to come to Rwanda. It is your prototype ground. You come here, you test, and when you see it works well, you can scale up,” he said. Considering that Africa contributes only 4 per cent to global emissions but remains the most vulnerable to climate change effects, it is not asking for a favor from the Global North which is the biggest emitter, he said. “Africa is still suffering from the historicity of the impact of the industrial revolution, a consequence of the development approaches of the Global North. “Rwanda is a small landlocked country. I often use the term ‘mountain ridge country.’ And so, floods and landslides are major challenges. There are also ecosystem challenges from wetlands to marshlands. Ojielo added that the government is committed to addressing these issues, especially in 2012 when a green fund known as “FONERWA” was established as a home-grown solution. The fund has so far mobilised $247 million and created 176,188 green jobs through 46 projects it has financed. It aims to have a minimum of 30 per cent of total fund commitments targeting the private sector.
