Africa and a clean energy future

#development,  #clean energy, #sustainable, #green economy, #innovation,  #mudombi, #shakespear, #Africa

Author: Shakespear Mudombi

Type: Thoughts and Perspective

Date: 28 April 2016
  

Abstract

Shakespear Mudombi (PhD)

Past development approaches have been putting greater emphasis on economic development with little emphasis on environmental and social concerns. However, there are indications that these development approaches are and have not been sustainable, as they have contributed to high carbon emissions that are blamed for causing global warming which in turn causes climate change. Because of failure of past approaches, there are efforts to align development towards a low carbon future. This article argues that, the African continent and its people should not remain behind in this drive towards a clean energy future. While challenges are there, greater priority should focus on the opportunities that are available especially the abundant renewable energy sources. The endeavour towards a clean energy future should be embedded in the broader green economy framework, which requires an overhaul in the way economic, industrial and social processes are done. The clean energy future should be consistent with, and should contribute towards the broader sustainable development goals.

Introduction

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It is no longer a question of whether African countries should increase their investment in, and use of low-carbon energy sources or whether it should pursue clean energy future. In fact, issues of low-carbon energy are critical to every individual, society, and nation, regardless of the level of development. When the climate change challenge was gaining prominence, first within the scientific community and then amongst policy makers, one of the critical issues that was being emphasised was that developed countries should participate in mitigation mostly whilst the developing world, Africa included should prioritise adaptation. Developed countries have been cited as the main contributors of past green house gases (GHG) emissions that is blamed for climate change. While this still holds true to some extent, it is slowly being realised that the threat of climate change is real and reducing its impacts no longer requires a divided front. In other words, the blame shifting game has to end and there is need for unity of purpose in tackling the climate change challenge. Hence, I said in the beginning - it is no longer a question of whether “African countries should increase their investment in, and use of low-carbon energy sources or whether it should pursue clean energy future”, because it should. The important question thus becomes: to what extent should Africa invest in low-carbon energy and how is should be done? This is so because going the low-carbon energy route is no longer and should not be a less prioritised option but should be embraced as one of the most likely sustainable path towards climate-resilient development.

Background

Climate change is one of the main challenges facing the world today. The African continent has been highlighted as one of the most vulnerable continents, this is worsened by the fact the the continent is already vulnerable to many other challenges, of which climate change acts as a ‘multiplier’ of the stressors. In general, the continent has weak adaptive capacity. In dealing with the climate change challenge, two prominent actions are emphasised, namely adaptation and mitigation. Adaptation on one hand relates to dealing with the already bad situation and reducing the impacts of the climate change effects that are or will happen, while mitigation seeks to prevent future effects by halting climate change. In other words, adaptation mainly focuses on effects while mitigation seeks to deals with the causes i.e. nipping in the bud. From the perspective of a clean energy future, of which adoption of low-carbon energy is  a prerequisite, this belongs to the mitigation dimension, whereby carbon emissions have to be greatly reduced if the catastrophic impacts of climate change are to be avoided. Having set an important background it is now important to highlight and discuss why Africa should invest in low-carbon energy. The opportunities and challenges for a low carbon development pathway for Africa will vary from country to country depending on: resource endowments; level of development; and the policy environment amongst other factors (Mudombi, 2013). 

Climate change response pathway (by Shakespear Mudombi, 2016)

Challenges hampering investment in, and use of low-carbon energy sources

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A number of challenges have been highlighted in the literature. One of the main reasons that have been argued against adopting a low carbon energy path is the fact the Africa is highly endowed with high carbon energy resources and these should be used to enhance the continent’s development. This is a critical challenge because the rate at which cleaner forms of energy are being developed and disseminated is relatively slow. This means that reducing the use of high-carbon energy sources whilst not enhancing the use of low-carbon energy sources will further worsen the already high energy poverty. Thus, there is need to find ways to increase the development and dissemination of the cheaper and easily accessible cleaner forms of energy if a clean energy future is going to be a reality for Africa.

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There is need for the transfer of cleaner technologies and learning from various parts of the world, in other words, techno-ledge (technology and knowledge) sharing is critical. However, desirable and noble as it may, there has not been much techno-ledge sharing due to a number of barriers relating to the high cost of developing these technologies and the subsequent profit concerns from investors. For most of the African countries or population, these technologies are beyond their reach, which makes economic sense for them to continue using relatively cheaper high-carbon energy. The fact that Africa is highly dependant on external technology (i.e. it imports most of its technology) is a challenge on its own. As the global trend in technology production is moving towards low carbon technologies, in which case if the continent does not embrace the new low carbon energy technology, it will be left out in the process. The current high carbon technologies are becoming obsolete; these outdated technologies will not have back up technical support such as spare parts. In this regard, various stakeholders should seek to enhance local innovation capacity in the development and utilisation of low carbon energy sources on the continent.

As stressed by Mudombi (2013) that people’s understanding, perceptions, and attitudes are critical for the attainment of a clean energy future. Most people especially the general public lack information and knowledge about climate change in general and the need to adopt low-carbon energy, thus creating awareness and promoting learning is critical for the continent. If people have a better understanding it will help them to be aware of the need for them to change behaviour. Though some research studies have shown that awareness does not necessarily lead to behaviour change (the relationships are complex, and many factors influence behaviour change), it is noteworthy to state that awareness is indeed an important ingredient in the behaviour change process for the transition from high-carbon to low-carbon energy sources.

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Moving towards a clean energy future requires a lot of financial resources. These resources are required for importing and using cleaner technologies and production processes. Africa is currently faced with other challenges which include food insecurity, high unemployment, pandemics, instability, and poverty, amongst many. One of the critical challenges is the fact that despite concerted efforts that have been directed towards developing the continent and tackling challenges such as climate change, little progress is and has been made.  This has generally created fatigue amongst various players, especially funders. For instance, development support and funding for initiatives such as clean energy development and adoption has not been availed as expected. To build a clean energy future requires resources, willingness and motivation from various players to contribute towards achieving the goal. There has been distrust between developed and developing countries in efforts to address climate change (Klein et al. 2010, Mudombi, 2013). This lack of trust is a significant challenge as it has implications on how low carbon development is perceived and embraced on the African continent. For developing countries in general and Africa in particular, there are a myriad of challenges, thus focusing on a clean energy future alone without taking cognisance of other development challenges such as food insecurity and poverty will not achieve the desired results for Africa.

Opportunities for investing in, and use of low-carbon energy sources

Having highlighted the challenges, it is important to briefly outline some of the opportunities for increasing dependency on low-carbon energy in Africa. The continent is richly endowed with low carbon energy resources. For example, solar energy can be adopted at a large scale to reduce energy poverty among both rural and urban dwellers. Hydro electricity power has a big potential by expanding and improving current plants and setting up new ones. Some of the hydro-electricity generations plants were set up long back, these could be retrofitted with more efficient and high productivity systems. Moreover, the continent has potential to benefit from various financial resources that are being availed at the global level to mitigate climate change and promote low-carbon development.

Adopting low-carbon energy particularly in the production of export goods will increase the competitiveness of products. Markets and consumers the world over are becoming more environmental and climate conscious, they want to buy environmental and climate friendly products. Trading requirements being set in the developed countries’ markets now require certain certifications and assess the entire value chain of the imported product on issues such as carbon footprint, human rights, health and phyto-sanitary standards. If the African producer does not abide by these requirements then it means their products will have less demand on the international market. Starting to implement and adopting clean energy sources can be one of the relatively low hanging fruits to improve competitiveness of African products.

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While some challenges have been highlighted in terms of the high cost of technology transfer, it is noteworthy to point out that there are some technologies that are being availed at relatively low and subsidised prices which can prop up the continent as it seeks to embrace a clean energy future. In addition, the youth bulge that characterises the African population has been highlighted as stagnating development on the continent, nevertheless this should be embraced as a good opportunity for promoting learning, awareness, and behaviour change amongst these youth so that as they grow up they become clean energy conscious adults. Attitudes and behaviour are relatively easier to change in younger people compared to adults.

Conclusion

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It is imperative for the African continent and its people not to be left out in this drive towards a clean energy future. The various challenges should not act as a hindrance towards adopting low-carbon energy; rather, priority should focus on the opportunities that are available especially the abundant renewable energy sources. In this drive there should be greater collaboration and techno-ledge sharing between Africa and other continents in order to attain an inclusive clean energy future. The endeavour towards a clean energy future should be embedded in the broader green economy framework, which requires an overhaul in the way economic, industrial and social processes are done. There should be changes in way things are done. That is doing things(processes and ways) differently using different means (knowledge, skills andtechnology) and resources (clean and renewable rather than dirty andnon-renewable) with the overall objective of achieving positive and sustainablesocio-economic-environmental outcomes (Mudombi, 2015). The clean energy future should be consistent with, and should contribute towards the broader sustainable development goals.

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