President Uhuru Kenyatta took his campaign against money laundering to the United Nations Security Council where he offered recommendations to mitigate financial crimes.
He was speaking during a meeting attended by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
"Another important, and prompt, action that the UN Security Council can take to boost peace and security in the most fragile regions in Africa is to act strongly against illicit financial outflows, illicit resource exploitation, terrorism financing and money laundering.
"Doing so immediately boosts the resources available to the government to undertake climate change mitigation and offer the public services and goods needed to consolidate and protect peace," he spoke.
The head of state explained that fragile countries experiencing armed conflict or the threat of it receive little public or private investment. The lack of employment and opportunity, in turn, worsens the political and security crisis.
President Kenyatta stated that Kenya's priorities at the UNSC would be to tackle climate change and security.
"Africa, unfortunately, will suffer the worst consequences of climate change despite being the least responsible for global greenhouse gas emissions. Projected climatic changes for Africa suggest a future of increasing water scarcity, decreasing agricultural yields, encroaching desert, and damaged coastal infrastructure," he noted.
He outlined examples such as the drought-stricken Horn of Africa, the drying Lake Chad Basin, and the shrinking Sahel and Savannah grasslands which have worsened economic vulnerabilities, and set in motion political, demographic and migratory dynamics that increase the threat of insurgency and violent extremism.
The head of state expressed hope that the UNSC would listen more carefully, and respond, to the new, innovative tools for climate-related conflict-prevention and resilience-building.
He affirmed that Kenya would remain a strong voice for Africa in making the case for climate change and security.
"The world expects results and is looking to the Security Council to ever more effectively fulfill its mandate. A growing part of that work is likely to involve the conflict impacts of climate change," President Kenyatta concluded.
