Hauwa Ali
Experts in the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) have urged African countries to use their vast resource potential in wind, solar, hydro and geothermal energy, to accelerate transition from fossil fuels by embracing renewable energy resources to mitigate climate crises.
This was contained in IRENA’S recent statement made available to NatureNews which stated that Central and Southern Africa have abundant mineral resources essential to the production of electric batteries, wind turbines, and other low-carbon technologies, which can be harnessed to save the climate.
They noted that generating renewable energy creates far lower emissions than burning fossil fuels, which currently account for the lion’s share of emissions.
According to IRENA, decisions made today will shape the continent’s energy sector for decades to come.
Reacting to the report, Global Wind Energy Council, Africa Director, Wangari Muchiri, said one of the lessons African countries can learn from this is to embrace “our abundant renewable energy resources, which are some of the best in the world.”
Similarly, Chief Executive Officer, Africa Climate Ventures, and Founder of the Climate Action Platform, Africa, James Mwangi, described the report on Europe as both encouraging and a warning for Africa.
He said the data underlines the risk that Africa faces of ending up with stranded assets in terms of large investments in fossil fuels energy infrastructure, at a time when Africa also has a huge abundance of untapped renewable energy potential.
“It makes little to no sense for Africa to spend large amounts of its limited investment capital on a fading technology that will inevitably need to be written off in the near future and is already losing ground to renewables even in Europe. Renewables have a much-extended lifespan and more attractive long-term economics. The $133 billion every year needed by Africa in clean energy investment is what this continent needs.”
Speaking on the report, Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Nnimmo Bassey, said the authors are enthusiastic that the attainment of net zero in the 2030s by Europe will make the 1.5C targets attainable.
He noted that reality is that many contributory factors to the rise of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are still not seriously tackled and there is no real resolve to keep fossils in the ground. “Moreover the 1.5C target already spells trouble for Africa and Small Island States,” Bassey added.