An overview of Camco’s activities as the Kenyan capital hosts some of the year’s biggest climate events
Next week, Nairobi will play host to three very important events on the climate events calendar, namely the Africa Climate Week (ACW), the inaugural Africa Climate Summit (ACS) and the Green Climate Fund Global Private Investment Conference (GPIC). We are excited to have senior team members taking part in high-level panel discussions and side events throughout the week, where we will be talking about how to strengthen public-private collaboration and scale private investments to accelerate just energy transitions and strengthen adaptation and resilience in Africa.
We’ll be sharing our reflections from these events and what their outcomes could mean for COP28 and future climate talks. In the meantime, here’s an overview of Camco’s activity during next week’s Nairobi climate talks and how they relate to relevant themes in our work. Mobilising private investment for a just transition in Africa Camco's Adam Fitzwilliam will speak at the ACS side event hosted by FSD Africa and PIDG on 5 September to introduce Spark Energy Services (Spark), Camco's financing platform to support captive solar and energy efficiency projects in Africa’s commercial and industrial sector. As Spark Director, Adam will be using Tuesday night’s event, “Unlocking finance for Africa’s green agenda: Launch of new financing instruments and structures”, to highlight the platform's innovative financing approaches that facilitate smaller scale investments, build partnerships with local developers and support local SMEs, ultimately advancing economic development. The following day (6 September), Adam will be making an exciting announcement about Spark at European Investment Bank’s ACS side event, “Catalysing Africa’s private sector to deliver on climate action”. EIB’s event aims to highlight the significance of high-impact climate investment by showcasing specific examples of private capital-backed climate action with key partners and to reinforce cooperation with both local and international financial institutions. Camco’s Investment Director and Director of East Africa, Brian Lukera Wambani, will be speaking at GPIC’s “Navigating clean energy transition – A holistic approach” (plenary session 2.3) at 2:30pm EAT on 5 September (open to all GPIC attendees). Brian will use his extensive on-the-ground knowledge to share insights on accelerating just energy transitions. During the session, Brian will draw on Camco’s 30 years’ experience in the field to identify barriers hindering investment flows and propose holistic finance mobilisation and investment approaches to fund clean transitions which drive equitable green growth. Private-public partnerships to accelerate climate action Clean energy access Camco will be co-hosting an official ACW side event, "Exploring models for public-private collaboration in clean energy access", in collaboration with the African Climate Action Partnership (AfCAP), African Association for Rural Electrification (CLUB-ER), and Rocky Mountain Institute. The event kicks off at 3pm EAT on 8 September and is open to all ACW attendees. During the session, Camco's Policy and Partnerships Manager, Ieva Indriunaite, will be drawing on her extensive sectoral experience and knowledge to discuss key mechanisms for enabling mini-grid deployment, challenges facing the industry and how to align priorities between the public and private sectors. Adaptation and resilience Camco's Head of Impact, Laura Lahti, and Policy and Partnerships Manager, Ieva Indriunaite, will be speaking at a closed-door UN Climate Change High-Level Champions roundtable on 6 September. The official ACW side event, “How can Africa's banks, insurers and investors collaborate with the public sector to scale finance for adaptation and resilience in the region?”, will focus on collaboration between Africa's financial actors and the public sector to enhance finance for adaptation and resilience. Laura and Ieva have been invited as Africa-based private sector financial specialists and will be sharing Camco’s experience alongside banking and insurance sector practitioners, high-level representatives from the UN, UNEP FI, British International Investment, Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Centre and Atlantic Council, as well as country experts from South Africa, the UK, the USA, Senegal, Belgium, Egypt and more. The event, which supports the implementation of the Sharm-El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda, will present ongoing solutions and initiatives and discuss policy recommendations for strengthening the enabling environment for scaling adaptation and resilience finance in the region ahead of COP28. Market-based financing instruments Aside from the three main climate events, the Africa-Europe Foundation Working Group on Carbon Markets will also be convening in Nairobi next week. As a member of the group, Camco's Head of Impact, Laura Lahti, will be drawing on her extensive background in carbon markets and experience within the African finance landscape to carry forward the group’s goal to enhance Africa-Europe partnerships by combining the continent’s significant carbon potential and leveraging Europe's long-standing expertise and lessons learned.
On Tuesday evening you can also find us and our partners Energy Peace Partners at the I-REC Standard Foundation and Evident Networking Reception. If you will be there, be sure to connect with one of the Camco team to discuss the potential of Peace Renewable Energy Credits (P-RECs) to catalyse renewable energy deployment and sustainable development in fragile states on the continent.
Will you be in Nairobi next week? Reach out to us at contact@camco.fm