Kenya wants to pioneer a new African approach to global warming

On September 3rd William Ruto drove himself to a curtain-raiser for the Africa Climate Summit in a small yellow electric car, flanked by bodyguards riding electric motorbikes. Mr Ruto, Kenya’s president, sees climate diplomacy as a way of burnishing his reputation in the West. But during the summit—the first dedicated to Africa’s response to the warming planet—the motorcades of visiting presidents had a more familiar look. While the politicians talked green inside the venue in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, outside were rows of petrol-guzzling SUVs.