Rising Public Debts Hampering Africa’s Efforts To Achieving Climate Goals – Report  

The economies of many African countries are currently on life support because of rising public debts and post-coronavirus pandemic-induced economic contractions that have combined with other stressors have continue to hamper national efforts to achieve sustainable development and climate goals, a new report has revealed.

The report titled: “Assessing Climate Change, COP26 Commitments in Africa: Case Studies of Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda”, put together by Nigeria-based Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Uganda-based African Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) and South African Climate Action Network (SACAN) with support from Climate Emergency Collaboration Group (CECG), (released on Wednesday, 2nd November, 2022), was informed by the need to review the climate commitments of African countries ahead of the 27th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP27) billed for Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt.

The report examines the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) commitments and climate-action progress of African countries as the world prepares for COP27. Findings of the report showed that all three countries examined have updated their NDCs with climate ambitions.

However, the economies of many African countries are currently on life support because of rising public debts and post COVID-19 pandemic-induced economic contractions, combined with other stressors, thereby hamping the race towards a clean energy transition and carbon-less society, it revealed.

Other findings of the report showed that, across the three countries studied, state authorities are keen on getting things right but there is still room for improvement, especially in the area of implementation and enforcement of sound policies that regulate GHG emissions and acknowledges the concerns of local populations in the journey towards a just and sustainable energy transition.

In Nigeria for instance, despite its aspirations to cut carbon emissions, the report revealed that the Nigerian government continues to perpetuate fossil fuel exploration and commit to the usage of other non-renewable Energy sources that contribute to GHG emissions. In South Africa, while the country is committing to a net zero CO2 target by 2050, it has largely not been able to wean itself off reliance on coal, the report stated, adding that South Africa’s emissions trajectory for 2030 is expected to decrease by around five to six per cent below 2010 levels but would end up at around 36 per cent to 38 per cent above 1990 levels, much above the target range set in its 2021 updated NDC.

To tackle these challenges as raised in the report, the executive director, CAPPA, Akinbode Oluwafemi, at a press briefing on Wednesday, tasked the global community to cancel the debt of African countries, adding that Africa’s economies need a breather through debt cancellation to better focus and redirect scarce resources to their climate change actions and aspirations.

Oluwafemi also tasked African governments to leverage on green economic opportunities including increased demands for electric vehicles, solar panels, batteries, etc. which are produced with critical minerals some of which are sourced from Africa places, adding that this will put the continent at a vantage point to renegotiate its position on the global stage while stimulating inclusive economic growth.

“Remove barriers to renewable energy technologies in Africa such as import tariffs to make renewable energy accessible and affordable to most of the energy-poor African population; withdraw support for heavy-carbon project; protect workers and communities since transition comes with a price and increase climate change education and awareness, the ED recommended.