Climate Change Mitigation and African Priorities

Oluwasola Omoju examines global climate change mitigation strategy from the perspective of sub-Sahara African countries.

As policy makers gather for the Lima Climate Change Conference in Lima, Peru, one of the key issues at the forefront of discussions is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from energy consumption. Emissions from fossil-fuel-based energy consumption is known to be the major cause of global warming and climate change, and genuine efforts to address climate change needs to focus on this area. However, as the impacts of climate change differs among countries, the potential socio-economic impacts of climate change adaptation and mitigation also differs from country to country, depending on the economic structure, level of economic development and technological advancement.

It is globally accepted that climate change is presently the greatest threat to the sustainability of progress already made in global poverty reduction. It has far-reaching effects on plants, animals, humans, natural resources and the environment, now and in the future. Though the effects of climate change permeate all countries, developing countries have been identified to be the most vulnerable due to their dependence on natural resources and their vulnerability to weather, energy and agricultural shocks. Already, climate change is being associated with increasing poverty and inequality, energy crisis, food and water insecurity, infant mortality, natural disasters and conflicts in developing countries.

Among developing regions, countries in sub-Saharan Africa are among the most likely to be affected by climate change despite the fact that the entire African continent generates less emissions - the major cause of climate change - than US, India or China. Various studies have shown that the impact of climate change on African economies will be severe compared to other regions of the world. The agricultural sector is particularly vulnerable due to the dependence of the region on rain-fed agriculture system, raising concerns about the possibility of food insecurity and increasing poverty levels in the region. Also, a lot of African countries depend on rainfall for adequate access to water supply further increasing concern over water security and poverty. Countries in the Horn of Africa have dire records of drought and poverty levels, and the situation would be aggravated due to the impact of climate change. In effect, the potential adverse impact of climate change on Africa countries is overwhelming. It is based on this understanding that African countries and their representatives at the current summit have a major stake in the discussion and negotiations. But what actually should be the target of African representatives? Answering this question is important for advancing Africa’s economic interests and development within the context of global efforts to combat climate change.

While the goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy consumption and combating climate change are crucial for inclusive and sustainable development, its impacts differs between rich developed countries like the United States, Germany, Norway or Denmark and developing energy-poor countries like those in sub-Saharan Africa. Based on World Bank data, less than 50% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa have access to electricity as at 2011. Specifically, 80.8% of the population does not have access to electricity in Kenya, 76.7% in Ethiopia, 71.8% in Benin Republic, 85.4% in Uganda, 86.9% in Burkina Faso, 93% in Malawi, 91% in DR Congo and 85% in Tanzania. The list goes on and on. Similarly, majority of households in the region still depends on solid fuels in the form of wood, charcoal and dung for cooking. Despite this glaring and unfortunate situation, the problem of energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa is oftentimes overshadowed by the subject of climate change. Irrespective of the source, it is clear that electricity supply has to be boosted for these countries to achieve economic development and poverty reduction.

At every development stage, countries need to make choices between often conflicting goals. It is important for sub-Saharan Africa countries to pursue energy-for-all to achieve and sustain economic growth and poverty reduction. The current energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa is interlinked with the high level of income and non-income poverty in the region. In their desire to improve the standards of living of their citizens, governments of the region should opt to provide energy for their citizens using their least cost resources. This is also necessary to make the industries in these countries competitive and contribute to economic growth, job creation and overall development. As Mr Chris Pedersen recently notes, increased access to cheap and reliable electricity has helped China and Vietnam to lift millions of their population out of poverty. This is presently the most important goal for sub-Saharan Africa countries.

With respect to the source of new electricity supply, which will be a subset of energy and emission discussions in the current summit, there have been calls for developing countries including those in sub-Saharan Africa to embrace renewable and clean energy sources. It is important to note that sub-Saharan African countries currently depend largely if not totally on fossil-fuel for electricity and energy consumption. More so, some of the economies of these countries depend on fossil-fuel export for foreign exchange and revenue generation. Some of the averagely developed and energy “satisfied” countries in Africa like North African countries and South Africa are those that efficiently utilise their fossil-fuel resources – oil & gas and coal respectively. Besides, energy-intensive infrastructural development is crucial at the take-off stage (which is where a lot of sub-Saharan Africa countries are) of economic development. Therefore, promoting a legally-binding measures to reduce fossil-energy consumption, which is likely to be one of the main outcomes of the summit, may undermine the economic development of sub-Saharan Africa countries.

While renewable energy and cleaner energy are desirable for environmental considerations, it might affect the competitiveness of African economies in the global market when compared to countries say in the Scandinavian region. This is because generating electricity from renewable energy is still expensive compared to electricity from fossil fuel. Even developed countries like the US, Australia, Germany, and the EU still consume significant amount of fossil fuel, especially coal, despite proclaimed commitment to environmental sustainability. This is evidenced in the increasing construction of coal-fired power plants and “clean” coal technologies in some of these countries. In addition, the rapid development of renewable energy to meet current development needs in sub-Saharan Africa could be impeded by a number of factors ranging from lack of adequate manpower and know-how, over-reliance on foreign technology, intellectual property rights issue, continuous subsidization of fossil fuel, to high poverty level.

Going back to the current climate conference, representatives of African countries need to identify and pragmatically present their concerns and priorities. Despite increasing use of renewable energy in developed countries, their emissions levels still substantially surpass that of sub-Saharan Africa. Given the high level of poverty in the region, energy-for-all, economic growth and poverty reduction should be their first priority for sub-Sahara Africa. Abandoning their abundant fossil-fuel resources for electricity generation and focusing on renewable electricity supply may be an irrational decision. As concluded by Mr Pedersen, “those who still lack adequate and reliable access to electricity might be hesitant and concerned about a global, legally-binding agreement, which could result from this round of climate talks. Even though some of these countries are among the most affected by climate change, they also face the highest levels of energy poverty today. Any limit or environmental mandate that could limit or delay their country’s energy development could be seen as a threat to their sovereignty and overall advancement.” Therefore, sub-Saharan Africa need to push for global assistance in terms of substantial economic, technological, manpower and financial support to mitigate the impact of climate change rather than signing off on agreements that would push their countries into further poverty and underdevelopment.

Oluwasola Omoju is a PhD candidate and research assistant at China Center for Energy Economics Research (CCEER), School of Economics, Xiamen University, PR China.