Speaking Tuesday at the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, Mohamud underscored Somalia’s extreme vulnerability to climate change despite its negligible role in global emissions.
He pointed to the devastating 2021–2023 drought, which affected 7.8 million people — nearly half of Somalia’s population — causing widespread food insecurity, loss of livelihoods, and mass displacement.
The president outlined Somalia’s recent climate milestones, including the Green Somalia Initiative to plant 10 million trees, a $10 million pledge to the Great Green Wall, establishment of the National Climate Fund, and a $100 million Green Climate Fund partnership launched in 2024. Somalia was also the first East African nation to submit its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) 3.0, he noted.
“The climate crisis is exacting a severe toll on the Somali people,” Mohamud said, urging global partners to operationalize and capitalize loss and damage mechanisms, turning pledges into “predictable, timely disbursements that reach frontline countries like Somalia directly.”
Mohamud was accompanied by a high-level delegation including Deputy Prime Minister Salah Ahmed Jama, Environment Minister Lt. Gen. Bashir Mohamed Jama, Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali (Dhaay), Finance Minister Bihi Iman Egeh, and Somalia’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Abdullahi Warfa, underscoring what officials described as a “united front” on climate leadership.
Source Hiiraan Online
