As
the urgency to act on climate change grows, international climate policies and
the advent of low-carbon technologies are reducing the demand for, and value
of, fossil fuels.
Carbon
tracker estimates that 60-80% of coal, oil and gas reserves could be classified
as unburnable if the world is to avoid disastrous climate change.
This
puts Africa at risk of asset stranding, especially in mineral resource-rich
countries.
A
new report by the United Nations University – Institute for Natural Resources
in Africa (UNU-INRA) has identified climate change as a key driver to asset
stranding in Africa’s natural resources sector, which contributes substantially
to export revenues of a majority of African countries.
The
research, Africa in the age of stranded assets, argues that managing the
risks associated with asset stranding will be fundamental to sustaining
government revenues from extractive resources.
“Africa
has had a difficult history with its natural resources, where many resource-rich
African countries have experienced poor development outcomes. Stranded assets
present a new challenge, but also give a unique opportunity for Africa to
deepen its drive towards economic diversification”, said Dr. Fatima Denton,
Director, at UNU-INRA.
“With
this report, we want to send a clear message that the reality of stranded
assets is already happening. There is the urgent need for African governments
and their partners to find the right balance between Africa’s developmental
needs using extractive resources and achieving climate action ambitions”, Dr.
Denton added.
The
report, launched on the sidelines of the UN climate Change Conference (COP25)
in Madrid, Spain, stands on deep contextual research from eight African
countries; Angola, Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria, Niger, South Africa, Tanzania and
Zambia. It offers voices and insights from the continent often missing from the
global conversation on resource use and climate change.
Youba
Sokona, Vice Chair of the intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),
highlighted the need for African countries to have “vision, institutions, human
resources and knowledge,” and to “invest in long term plans”.
He
mentioned that African countries that do not have carbon intensive
infrastructure need to start their developmental plans with a new outlook. “We
do not need to decarbonize, we need to jumpstart.”
The
African continent emits less than 4% of the global greenhouse gas emissions, but
remains most vulnerable to climate change, according to science and reality.
Yet
adaptation and ambitious finance targets for developing countries, as resolved
by parties at COP21 Paris, are not prioritized in the current climate
negotiations.
The
African Group of Negotiators (AGN) is pushing for immediate new targets and to
make finance available based on the needs of countries.
The
common position of African at COP25 is the push for parties to acknowledge
Africa’s special needs and circumstances, as countries are compelled to invest
2-9percent of their annual budgets to local adaptation projects.
As
African countries continue to discover new resources, they may be challenged in
exploiting these resources for the benefit of its people.
There
are arguments therefore that Africa’s should perhaps delay its transition from
fossil to renewable while charting a new growth path.
Landry
Ninteretse, the Regional Team Leader of 350Africa.org, however wants African
decision-makers to heed the call of the people and urgently take action by
focusing on solutions that eliminate fossil fuels and transition to clean and
sustainable energy.
“At
the village, city, district and county levels, people are coming together to
challenge the power of the fossil fuel industry. Unions, faith groups and
non-environmental groups are joining them to build alternative people-centred
solutions,” he observed. “With the continuous energy technology innovations
making renewable energy more accessible and affordable, we believe that Africa
can and must lead the way in this watershed moment in history, by addressing
the climate crisis while creating a more just and equitable world and
generating millions of new jobs for its growing youth population powered by
technologically advanced renewable sources”.
The
UNU-INRA’s report on stranded assets discusses Africa’s development in light of
potential asset stranding, in the hopes of alerting African governments to the
need for effective natural resource planning towards lower carbon economies.
For
civil society activists, Dr. Mithika Mwenda, “we need a radical position of
where we need to go as Africa”.
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