Earth Science News
AFRICA NEWS
African climate summit seeks to showcase green power potential
African climate summit seeks to showcase green power potential
By Kelly MACNAMARA with Nick PERRY in Nairobi
Paris (AFP) Sept 1, 2023

Kenya next week hosts a flagship climate conference designed to showcase Africa as a potential powerhouse for green energy, in the first of a flurry of big meetings ahead of crunch UN talks.

With the world far adrift of its goal of slashing carbon emissions and communities battered by extreme weather events, the November climate summit in oil-rich United Arab Emirates will be dominated by clashing visions for energy.

Kenyan President William Ruto says he wants the first African Climate Summit, running in Nairobi from Monday to Wednesday, to help "deliver African solutions."

The goal is to transform the continent into the source of the world's revolution in green power -- but to achieve this, it needs an influx of funding and help for its debt burden.

Ruto and other African leaders have sought to show that "Africa is not a victim but a critical player in solving the world's climate crisis," said Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi of the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET).

Africa, home to 1.2 billion people spread across 54 nations, is famously diverse, politically and economically.

Despite this, said Owusu-Gyamfi, its leaders have homed in on a set of climate priorities, from debt relief and low-carbon development to overhaul of the global financial architecture.

The hope is to generate momentum for a series of key international meetings leading up to COP28.

These include G20 negotiations in India, the UN General Assembly, and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meeting in Marrakesh.

When Africa speaks "with one voice" on an issue, she said, it can be "impossible for the rest of the world to ignore."

- Green power -

The Nairobi meeting is expected to draw a number of African heads of state, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and UN head Antonio Guterres and other leaders.

A draft version of the final declaration seen by AFP puts the spotlight on Africa's vast renewable energy potential, young workforce and natural assets.

Those include 40 percent of global reserves of cobalt, manganese, and platinum crucial for batteries and hydrogen fuel-cells.

Mohamed Adow, director of the think tank Power Shift Africa, said the conference was a chance to transform Africa into a place for making rather than extracting, and rise above rivalries between China, the United States and Europe.

"Just like we were able to leapfrog the fixed telephone line, this continent -- if it unites and uses this pivotal moment that we're now in -- we can effectively leapfrog dirty energy and become green leaders," he told AFP.

The draft declaration includes a provisional commitment to triple renewable energy potential across the continent from 20 percent in 2019 to 60 percent in 2030.

Kenya has taken the lead, with a pledge for renewables to make up 100 percent of its electricity mix by 2030.

But there are daunting challenges for a continent that is among the hardest-hit by climate impacts and where hundreds of millions of people lack access to electricity.

Despite hosting 60 percent of the world's best solar energy resources, Africa has roughly the same amount of installed capacity as Belgium, according to a commentary published last month by Ruto and the International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol.

- 'Perspective shift' -

Charra Tesfaye Terfassa of the think tank E3G, welcomed the "perspective shift" on African development but said the continent's lack of political clout and financial weakness should not be underplayed.

Reminders of Africa's instability came this week, with a military takeover in Gabon that came little more than a month after a coup in Niger.

A clean energy transition across the world's developing nations will be crucial in order to keep alive the Paris Agreement goal of capping global warming "well below" two degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times, and 1.5C if possible.

To make that happen, the IEA says investment will need to surge to $2 trillion a year within a decade -- an eight-fold increase.

But currently only about three percent of energy investments worldwide are made in Africa.

Globally, wealthy nations have yet to meet their pledge to provide, by 2020, $100 billion a year in climate finance to poorer nations, eroding trust that polluters will help vulnerable countries least responsible for warming to tackle the challenges of climate change.

Against this unpromising background, African countries are hamstrung by a mounting debt crisis.

According to the World Bank, of nine countries that in March were in debt distress, eight were in Africa.

Related Links
Africa News - Resources, Health, Food

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
AFRICA NEWS
African children 'least able to cope' with climate risks: UN
Nairobi (AFP) Sept 1, 2023
Children in Africa are exceptionally vulnerable to climate change but are "woefully" ignored by those responsible for funding the fight against the crisis, the United Nations said Friday. Africa - a continent of 1.2 billion people - is home to some of the countries least responsible for carbon emissions but is hit disproportionately hard by droughts, flooding, storms and heatwaves. Children in 48 of the 49 countries assessed are at "high or extremely high risk" of climate shocks, the UN child ... read more

AFRICA NEWS
Invasive species a growing and costly threat, key report to find

Acai berry craze: boon or threat for the Amazon?

Squeezed out: Bulgaria lavender oil makers fear EU laws

'Animals are thirsty': Dust and bones on Turkey's shrinking lake

AFRICA NEWS
Scientists Predict 10 pct Dryland Expansion Globally by 2100

Study: Global wetlands, coral reefs 'hanging by a thread' as sea levels rise

Minnows blamed for algae-filled French, Spanish lakes

Japan boosts fishing sector aid after Fukushima water release

AFRICA NEWS
IMF warns climate shocks may increase conflict deaths

Von der Leyen backs Dutch FM Hoekstra for EU climate post

How climate change boosts hurricanes

Understanting the climate benchmark

AFRICA NEWS
Researchers discover quantum switch for regulating photosynthesis

New insight for stabilizing halide perovskite via thiocyanate substitution

Low cost, high efficiency, multiple colors at the same time!

Lithuanian invention at the forefront of solar technology breakthrough

AFRICA NEWS
Making aviation fuel from biomass

Chevron, partners develop a transportation fuel using animal waste as a feedstock

Illinois research leading to cleaner propane production method

Transforming flies into degradable plastics

AFRICA NEWS
Iran pilgrims among 18 dead in Iraq crash

Go with the flow -- or flee: Burners split over mud tactics

Exodus begins at drenched Burning Man party in US desert

In Florida, residents grapple with Hurricane Idalia's toll

AFRICA NEWS
UAE looks to 'minimise' rights criticism at COP28: report

Rights groups urge US action to free Emirati activist

UK mulls fossil-friendly energy treaty pull-out

Biden administration changes Trump-era rule, will ban liquified natural gas on trains

AFRICA NEWS
Italy says China trade deal not meeting expectations

Nicaragua to export tariff-free to China from 2024

China's Country Garden narrowly avoids default: Bloomberg

Stocks down as traders await more China economic support measures

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.