2023-10-04 18:41:33
Africa is increasingly affected by natural disasters, the severity and frequency of which are expected to increase. Although the continent contributes only marginally to global greenhouse gas emissions (around 4%), climate change acts as a risk multiplier, amplifying the intensity of extreme weather events on the one hand and their unpredictability on the other. somewhere else.
The changing realities of Africa’s climate and the outlook known to date demonstrate that the continent is one of the world’s most vulnerable regions to climate risk. Furthermore, 600 million Africans still do not have access to electricity. This situation will become more and more worrying as the continent is preparing to double its population by 2050. The challenges are therefore considerable. However, Africa finds itself largely underfunded, both for reducing the effects of global warming and for adapting to future upheavals.
40% of potential income
According to the international non-profit research group Climate Policy Initiative, Africa’s needs to finance structuring projects enabling the continent to adapt to climate change and engage in the energy transition would amount to 250 billion dollars per year over the period 2020-2030. This financial windfall is both considerable and essential.
In this race to finance the energy transition, Africa is full of resources such as rare metals such as lithium or copper and has traditional resources such as oil and gas. According to the World Bank, African countries currently only earn on average 40% of the revenue they could potentially earn from all their natural resources.
Oil, gas and mineral resources, backed by exemplary governance, will therefore be essential to Africa’s economic development in the years to come. They will also be catalysts for job creation for a growing number of African youth.
Underexploited renewable resources
Beyond the issue of the continent’s sovereignty in being able to use its natural resources and lead its economic development, there are the challenges of adaptation to climate change and the energy transition which are the most pressing today. By using its water, solar and geothermal resources, Africa can develop renewable energy potential that would cover 2,000 times its current consumption and meet the needs of its populations. Today, this potential is only used to the extent of 10 to 15%. This is, once again, too little.
Africa also has tremendous potential for producing green hydrogen. According to the European Investment Bank, the continent could produce 50 million tonnes of this energy source by 2035 and thus accelerate its economic growth (significant investment in infrastructure, and creation of a significant number of jobs ) while reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 40%.
Preventing the African continent from using its mineral and fossil resources in the name of climate change for which it is not responsible is therefore not the appropriate path. It seems more relevant to work towards responsible use of these resources, which are now essential to fight against poverty and face the challenges posed by demography.
Ambition and voluntarism
Thus, even if the major obstacle of insufficient financing remains, it is essential to support the continent, with ambition and determination, on the path to energy transition. Africa’s right to develop in a sovereign and independent manner, including through the extraction of its natural resources, is compatible with the fight against climate change. One does not object has the other.
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