UN chief urges int’l community to help make Africa “a renewable energy superpower”
Addis Ababa, September 5, 2023 (FBC) – The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on the international community to help make Africa “a renewable energy superpower” at the 23rd Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.
The three-day Nairobi summit, which began on Monday, has attracted heads of state, government and industry, including leaders from Mozambique and Tanzania, as well as United Nations head Antonio Guterres, European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and United States’ climate envoy John Kerry.
It is billed as bringing together African leaders to define a shared vision for green development on the diverse continent of 1.4 billion and set the tone for a flurry of international diplomacy leading up to the COP28 meeting.
Despite an abundance of natural resources, just 3 percent of energy investments worldwide are made in the continent.
Addressing the Summit, Guterres noted that “Now is the time for all countries to stand as one in defense of our only home. Let’s deliver the climate justice that Africans, the world, and the planet we share demand and deserve.”
According to the UN Secretary General, Africa accounts for just four percent of global emissions, but it suffers some of the worst effects of climate change. Developed nations have to take responsibility for their role in rising global temperatures that have caused the climate crisis.
“Today, I renewed my call for the world to step up climate action to avoid the worst effects of climate change, keep global promises to provide essential support, and help Africa make a just and equitable transition to renewable energy. As I detailed in my remarks, Africa can be a renewable energy superpower,” Guterres said in a press encounter at the Summit, calling on the international community to help “make Africa a renewable energy superpower”.
“Renewable energy could be the African miracle, but we must make it happen,” Guterres told government and industry leaders.
He underlined that now is the time to bring together African countries with developed countries, financial institutions and technological companies to create a true African Renewable Energy Alliance. All of that requires addressing another injustice: an outdated, unfair and dysfunctional global financial system.
The three-day Nairobi summit, which began on Monday, is meant to define a shared vision for green development in Africa.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reports that billions of dollars pledged for green energy as Africa climate talks enter second day. The United Arab Emirates, which will also host the COP28 summit in Dubai in November-December, has pledged $4.5 billion in clean energy investments in Africa at a landmark climate summit aimed at showcasing the continent’s potential as a green powerhouse.
Sultan al-Jaber, who heads the UAE’s national oil company ADNOC and government-owned renewable energy company Masdar, said the investment would “jumpstart a pipeline of bankable clean energy projects in this very important continent”.
Al-Jaber, who is also president of the COP28 climate summit, said a consortium including Masdar would help develop 15 gigawatts of clean power by 2030.
Africa’s renewable generation capacity was 56GW in 2022, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.