President Paul Kagame has called for increased investment in green energy noting that it could also play a role towards recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Kagame was speaking on Sunday, May 30, at the P4G Summit held virtually under the theme Green Recovery and 2050 Carbon Neutrality. P4G, Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 is an initiative geared at accelerating market-based partnerships to build sustainable and resilient economies. Speaking at the summit, Kagame said that with economic growth dependent on energy, developing countries ought to produce and consume much more energy than they currently do to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. “This means incentivizing renewable energy and reducing subsidies for fossil fuels. In Rwanda, for example we are beginning the transition to electric vehicles as part of our journey toward carbon neutrality,” he said. Involvement in green growth, he said, will also come in handy in protecting biodiversity and allow for sustainable management of land, water and forest resources. “Biodiversity and conservation are important for another reason as well; to reduce the growing risk of infectious pathogens jumping from animals to humans, leading to devastating pandemics,” he said. Green growth is also expected to be a key source of high quality jobs opportunities for young people especially for the youth, he said. “Investment in green technologies and industries, in every corner of the world is therefore a key strategy for ensuring that recovery from this pandemic is more inclusive,” the Head of State added. P4G, promotes investments that have impact to deliver inclusive and tangible solutions to build back better and greener to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. Rwanda has a number of green investment initiatives spearheaded by the Rwanda Green Fund, a ground-breaking environment and climate change investment fund.
