Africa today contributes only 4% of greenhouse gases, but this figure is set to increase sharply if the continent does not quickly opt for a strategy based on solar and renewable energies.
Energy demand in Africa is now growing twice as fast as the world average. With an expected doubling of its urban population by 2040, transport and an exponentially growing industry, Africa will experience a considerable increase in its energy needs.
In its report “Africa Energy Outlook”, the International Energy Agency (IEA) is concerned “that the consumption of oil and gas is likely, by 2040, to increase more in Africa than in China.”
For the Gabonese negotiator at Cop26, Tanguy Gahouma-Bekale, “Africa does not face the same problems” as the rest of the world. “We must also ensure the fight against poverty, jobs for young people and energy for all”, pointing out that “half of the continent’s population does not have access to electricity.”
“This aid is very important so that we can design an economic development compatible with climate change“, affirms Tanguy Gahouma Bekalé. Because he warns:
“Africa will not agree to limit its economic development to support the fight against climate change”
Tanguy Gahouma-Bekale, Gabonese negotiator at Cop26AFP
This is why the African continent expects from the Cop26, that the financial commitments made in the past are kept and even exceeded.
“We have been waiting for the promised 100 billion dollars for more than ten years” per year to help developing countries cope with the ecological emergency, Tanguy Gahouma-Bekale told AFP.
At the Copenhagen climate conference in 2009, the rich countries pledged to increase their annual aid to developing countries to this amount by 2020 to deal with the ecological emergency. The goal is nearly 80% met and is considered achievable in 2023, the president of COP26, the Englishman Alok Sharma, conceded this week.
“The Africa group wants us to get back on track and find a solution to close this gap this year, not in two years”, hammers his negotiator, believing that the continent “already faces climate change, but without being responsible”.
To date, Africa has only installed 5 gigawatts (GW) of solar photovoltaic power, less than 1% of the global total, despite huge potential. Some catching up is underway, but it must be accelerated. A low-carbon model implies increasing investments in renewable energies (wind and hydroelectricity), but above all in solar, the cost of which is currently the lowest.
Especially since the African continent is not immune to the dramatic consequences of global warming, with already more drought, fresh water which is becoming scarce, in many countries such as Sudan, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, even South Africa as we have seen in recent years. To this must be added the heat waves and strong coastal erosion, which threaten many African capitals. Africa therefore also has a vested interest in the success of Cop26, often presented by experts as “that of the last chance”. Helping Africa to adopt a low carbon model is clearly in everyone’s interest.