Page 5 - AfrOil Week 49 2022

AfrOil COMMENTARY AfrOil

Wealthy nations contend that because Africa is decade, she said, “is not a reality” — at least not
more vulnerable than most to the severe effects without economic and social fallout. “Some-
of climate change, the continent must abandon times, a priority for countries is economic
its oil and gas opportunities, and the economic growth, which they only get from using fossil
and social improvements that come with it, and fuels – they are still cheap, the technologies are
switch to renewables — now. there, there are many power plants [and] they
In fact, the true impact of future climate cri- cannot [all of a sudden] just get rid of these
ses on everyday Africans is actually exacerbated plants, Hinostroza said.
by their current state of impoverishment. With- Economist Vijaya Ramachandran goes even
out the minimal level of development and infra- further. “It is not fair for rich countries to fight
structure, Africans face harsher consequences climate change at the cost of low-income coun-
because they don’t have the accoutrements of tries’ development and climate resilience,” Ram-
development—shelter, power, diet and personal achandran wrote for nature.com. Instead, she
amenities—that people in the developed world suggests the adoption of funding criteria that
will use on an individual basis to defend against consider economic growth alongside climate
any creeping climate degradation. impact, where countries with “lower per-capita The true impact
That is, to give Africans an even chance to incomes, low emissions, or high use of green
survive climate disasters of the future, let’s give energy are deemed more eligible for develop- of future climate
them the resources to bring them up to the level ment projects that depend on fossil fuels.”
of personal protections that others around the One example: using the 4.2 trillion cubic crises on
world have. metres of natural gas from offshore fields near everyday Africans
the Tanzania–Mozambique border to expand
Africa’s resources in the global context access to electricity and generate much-needed is actually
First, as is widely known, to the degree that revenue in two “low-income, low-emitting
greenhouse gases cause climate change, the countries.” exacerbated by
problem is not of Africa’s own making. It is Third, a fossil fuel-free world doesn’t reflect their current
irrefutably known that Africa produces an current market realities — including how accus-
infinitesimal amount of greenhouse gases and tomed Europeans are to keeping their homes state of
has the lowest emissions per capita of any region and businesses warm and well-lighted, espe-
on earth. cially during dark and blustery winters. impoverishment
At an event during COP 27, Fatih Birol, Yes, in a perfect world, the wind would always
executive director of the International Energy blow, the sun would always shine and Russia
Agency (IEA) reminded participants that would never have invaded Ukraine, meaning
Africa, where one fifth of the world’s population gas would still move unfettered across Europe.
lives, currently contributes only 3% of global But with none of this being the case, since June
greenhouse gas emissions. the EU has returned to using coal, the dirtiest
How would monetising Africa’s natural gas energy source – although at least it has banned
reserves change that figure? Not very much, imports of Russian coal. Somehow, EU officials
especially in light of how it would benefit every- believe they can take that step without “derailing
day Africans. their longer-term climate goals.”
According to Birol, were the continent to And even though the European Parliament
bring all of its natural gas discoveries on line, it labeled investments in gas and nuclear power as
would add 90bn cubic metres of useful produc- climate-friendly, unrelenting pressure to keep
tion by 2030. Two-thirds of that could be used African gas in the ground remains, and renew-
for domestic needs — among other things, to ables advocates say there should be no new
provide power to the 600mn Africans who still investment in infrastructure that would bring
lack access to electricity and to wean the 900mn African gas to Europe.
Africans (mostly women) who rely on biomass Fourth, despite arguments that investments
for cooking off the hazardous stuff — and the into Africa’s fossil fuel sector are undermining
rest exported. And even then the amount of the enormous potential of Africa’s renewa-
greenhouse gases coming out of Africa would bles, growth is already underway. Most of the
rise only to 3.4%, “which is nothing,” Birol said. electricity in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali,
Yet the world is trying to keep that solution Mozambique and Uganda comes from hydro-
out of our reach. electric power, and several other countries have
Second, it is countries that prospered via fos- taken steps toward scaling up other renewables
sil fuel-powered industrialisation that wish to through policy-building, regional collaboration
deny us the same privilege. Despite the fact that and investment promotion.
fossil fuels enabled the technological revolution The problem, however, is that investment
and have led to massive improvements in quality in the continent’s wind, solar, geothermal and
of life and longevity across the globe — all things other renewable power-generating projects
Africa needs, deserves and has the hydrocarbon was just $2.6bn in 2021, an 11-year low. Of the
means to achieve — big economies want us to $434bn invested in renewables worldwide, Afri-
stop using oil and natural gas as soon as possible. ca’s share was just 0.6%. Before Africa can more
But as Miriam Hinostroza, an environ- fully embark on a low-carbon future, there must
mental economist with the UN Environment be global strategies for mobilising capital into
Programme, told UN News, that’s out of the renewables, and the world must honor the bil-
question. Banning fossil fuels within the next lion-dollar promises it has already made.

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