With the Conference of the Parties 27 (COP27) climate summit taking place in Egypt later this year, African countries hope that the international community will focus on the continent’s energy priorities and challenges, as it addresses existing barriers to investing in clean energy and promotes the diffusion of finance across the continent.
The silver lining to Africa’s long-term energy access gap may be that many thousands of societies will be in a position to benefit from a “quick leap” toward renewable energy and clean sources, avoiding a temporary transition to electricity generated from fossil fuels.
Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, confirmed that global temperatures are rising at an unprecedented rate due to increased emissions from fossil fuels and other measures being implemented, saying, “We hope that the COP27 climate summit, which will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh next November, will get the industrialized countries to update their emission-reduction plans.”
She added that preparations are underway to host the climate summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, while efforts are underway to transform the city into a green hub in advance of the summit. She further explained that the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities is working to convert hotels into green facilities and increase the area of conference halls.
She emphasized that the COP27 climate summit must work to achieve zero emissions by 2050 and present plans at the climate conference table.
For his part, Wael Aboulmagd, Egypt’s special representative to the Cop27 president, said the government “will spare no effort to ensure our collective success in Sharm el-Sheikh.” Progress will require “listening to each other and moving away from the adversarial mode” that has dominated past climate summits, he said.
Aboulmagd said: “We need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. We need to move faster and faster towards renewables.”
While Western nations grapple with what is quickly becoming one of the worst energy crises in history, poor nations all over the world are suffering the negative effects of climate change as a result of fossil fuel exploitation and unsustainable industrial practices.
It is worth noting that Africa contributes very little to global carbon emissions, accounting for less than 4 percent of global carbon emissions and 6 percent of global energy consumption.
Despite this, Africa is suffering the most severe effects of climate change and changing weather patterns: droughts, floods, and heat waves are wreaking havoc on African societies.
Civil society organizations (CSOs) from Africa have objected against plans by African leaders to project the idea of using fossil gas as a transition fuel for the continent.
The development comes on the backdrop of a technical committee of the African Union made up of energy ministers who proposed an “African common position on energy access and transition”.
This position is predicated on the continued use of fossil gas and nuclear energy, at the expense of renewables, and is proposed for adoption by African heads of state at COP27.
