TIME Magazine Ranks Ruto Alongside Bill Gates, Mr Beast, Billie Eilish

President William Ruto has been ranked by TIME Magazine among the top 100 most influential climate leaders in 2023.

The rankings released by the US-based news magazine based in New York on Thursday, November 16 hailed the Kenyan Head of State's leadership in terms of climate change in Africa.

The publication specifically hailed Ruto for hosting the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi which earned the continent Ksh3.5 trillion in terms of funding for green projects.

"William Ruto is the President of Kenya, where he has emerged as a leader in green investment for Africa.

President William Ruto flanked by African Heads of Government during the Africa Climate Summit Declaration at the KICC, Nairobi County on September 6, 2023. /PCS

"Kenya hosted this year’s inaugural Africa Climate Summit, which secured $23 billion in funding for green projects for the continent. As part of Kenya’s efforts to increase electricity access, 80% of the grid is supplied by low-carbon sources," TIME stated in part.

When asked by the magazine to respond to important actions he believes the public, or a specific company or government, needs to take in the next year to advance the climate agenda, Ruto called for capital providers to realize that the risk of investments into Africa generally is structurally overstated and, accordingly, they need to bring down the cost of capital.

"This overstating of risk is true even before taking into account the downside risk and costs of inadequate climate action—if that were incorporated, the cost of capital in Africa could come down even further, since Africa can offer climate-positive growth: it can be a globally cost-competitive climate action powerhouse, greening global supply and manufacturing chains and removing carbon. This will need concerted efforts from multilateral development banks, governments, credit rating agencies, and private investors," he explained.

He stressed the halting of de-globalization as the most important thing the general public needs to advocate for, as climate change is a global problem that cannot be solved in a fragmented approach, dividing the world into polluters and victims.

"Africa can provide affordable renewable energy, green products, and conservation and climate restoration. But that will only happen if we think of humanity as sharing a joint burden and future, and if we deploy economic activities where they make the most sense to drive human development and counter climate change as quickly, cheaply, and effectively as possible," he added.