By Yahya Habil
In the wake of the Africa Climate Summit held in Nairobi, Kenya, and the approaching COP28 in Dubai, the subject of climate change in the world and Africa has resurfaced, with many shedding light on the pressing issue.
The first Africa Climate Summit indicated that Africans realise the importance of having a united voice and standing their ground to ensure the neglect of the continent’s needs and demands on the global stage does not continue.
In their strive towards more justice for Africa, the summit concluded with a call for world leaders to rally behind a worldwide carbon tax on fossil fuels, aviation, and maritime transport.
There was also a call for reforming the global financial system that forced African countries to pay more to borrow money.
In fact, according to researchers at the Our World in Data project and the Energy for Growth Hub, Africa has only accounted for about 2.73% of global emissions since the dawn of industrialisation.
In the Horn of Africa, rains have not fallen in over four seasons, with 23 million people facing severe hunger across Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. Moreover, Lake Chad, the livelihood source for millions of people in several countries such as Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon, has shrunk to one-tenth of its size in the past decades.
These are only two of many other cases of the severe impact of climate on the continent,
The Global North must provide Africa with sufficient funding to combat climate change, as the Global North, through high emissions and colonisation, is largely responsible for climate change and Africa’s underdevelopment.
Unlocking $500 billion
A report last year by the non-profit Climate Policy Initiative found that Africa had received only 12% of the finance it needed to cope with climate impacts.
This clear injustice is exactly why Africa decided to hold a Climate Summit and is expected to go into COP28 with one united voice with a more demanding tone.
COP28 is certainly an opportunity for Africa to voice its demands and highlight its vulnerabilities to climate change.
Kevin Kariuki, the vice president at the African Development Bank, told Reuters news agency that African states would push at the COP28 UN climate summit for the expansion of special drawing rights at the International Monetary Fund that could unlock $500 billion worth of climate finance, which could be leveraged up to five times.
Africa hopes to receive enough financing to be able to combat climate change through the use of clean and renewable energy.
The lack of funding has forced African countries to continue to rely on non-renewable energy to provide electricity for their citizens. Yet, about 43% of the continent’s population lacks electricity.
Africa’s challenging dead-end in combating climate change lies between using fossil fuels and denying African citizens the basic right to access electricity.
With Africa’s population expected to double by 2050, this issue becomes more pressing. In other words, the world's only option is to ensure that financing Africa’s battle with climate change becomes a top priority.
This means giving African countries enough money to improve power supply through renewable energy sources.
Injustice might backfire
However, since this isn’t guaranteed, African countries have already decided to take the initiative and find other ways to finance their efforts in combatting climate change. This has led several African countries to trade carbon credits.
Kenya, the host of the Africa Climate Summit, accounts for a quarter of the carbon credits traded in Africa and hopes to be a model for the continent’s new ambition of attracting investment. In June, the country hosted an auction where Saudi Arabian companies purchased more than 2.2 million tonnes of carbon credits.
Therefore, Africa’s priority at the forthcoming COP28 should be getting the funds required to support renewable energy.
Unfortunately, it is highly unlikely that the financial injustice towards Africa will end with the COP28.
Nevertheless, it is still important to understand that the injustice against Africa could backfire and affect not just the continent but the entire world -.
The author, Yahya Habil, is a Libyan freelance journalist focusing on African affairs. He is currently working with a think tank in the Middle East
Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints and editorial policies of TRT Afrika.
