The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) has called for both public and private investment in renewable energy.
ANEEJ made this call in a two day workshop for Journalists, Civil society organisations and host communities, held from 16-17 February in Port Harcourt.
Its Executive Director, Rev. David Ugolor, in his address, said that the workshop was designed to enhance knowledge of participants on emerging issues in the global climate change trend and energy transition.
Ugolor, who was represented by one of the board members, Mr Nowinta Igbotako, said that one of the concerns of ANEEJ is to build a movement around climate change justice issues and support host communities to amplify their issues to the world.
He decried that the 1.5⁰ target in the Paris climate pact is “already extremely hard to reach.” He said this because from their study of the climate and energy strategy of Shell and other IOCs, they fall short of what is required to achieve the Paris Agreement.
He said that analysis have been done and it indicates that the target will not be achieved even by 2030.
In response to achieving renewable energy and stop Shell’s investing Upstream oil and gas, he said that ANEEJ has designed some projects around these issues with some partners like The Sunrise Project and the Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Ghana.
He said ANEEJ is working with both partners to creatively promote the engagement with investors and shareholders of oil and gas companies to encourage them to adapt during policies and negotiate with Shell and other multinational oil companies operating in West Africa to achieve fossil fuel phase outs.
Mr Innocent Edemhanrie, Programme manager of ANEEJ told NatureNews that that the workshop seeks to look at the current happenings around the world and to amplify the plights of host communities.
He said oil companies are making huge profit while host communities are suffering environmental degradation, pollution, and health challenges arising from their activities and “we want the world to know that host communities are suffering from the activities of IOCs.
“You will observe that the world is a global community and activities of oil and gas companies have been noted all over the world even IOCs have noted that carbon emission is contributing to global warning and climate crisis.
“World leaders have acknowledged that if the current rate of pollution, gas flaring and carbon emission is not curtailed, then in the next few years there will be no earth for us to live in.
“So that concern has necessitated series of global conferences at the UN level where countries come and discuss on how to reduce emissions.
“World leaders have realised that we need to now begin to invest more in renewable energy to replace the fossil fuel that is causing climate crisis.
“So from now on, we want government to support the renewable energy. So we have to demand more concrete action from government and from companies on renewable energy sources.
“If you look around the world even in our county, people are using renewable lamp, street light but we need to multiply that in land scale.
“To achieve that, we want concerned efforts to invest in new technology to make this renewable energy super to the people.”