The call came as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that exploring for gas and oil anywhere in the world would be “delusional”. Many African leaders are considering pushing for new investment in exploration as gas prices around the world soar. Some European countries are also willing to make such investments to replace supplies from Russia. Last week, Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland, the UN human rights commissioner and the UN climate envoy, sparked controversy when she backed an expansion, saying African countries should exploit their gas reserves. He said the gas should be used on the continent for clean cooking and electricity generation for the 600 million people who did not have access to electricity and the 900 million who cooked with biomass or dirty oil, instead of being exported for profit. Mohamed Andow, director of the thinktank Power Shift Africa and winner of the 2020 Climate Breakthrough Award, said Robinson was wrong. “In order for Africans to achieve the dignified lives that access to energy must bring, we cannot rely on the failed system of the last 200 years. “We need to get beyond our thinking and invest in distributed renewable energy systems that will not poison our rivers, pollute our air, stifle our lungs and benefit only a few,” he told the Guardian. Distinguishing between voices from the West and those from Africa, he said: “Climate justice champions living in Africa are very clear that we want access to energy for all – but we also do not want to lock in climate change for all.” With him was Nnimmo Bassey, director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation in Nigeria. “Decades of oil and gas extraction on the continent have fueled foreign markets and only muddy water, created violence and left people in the cold and in the dark,” he said, noting the experience of Nigeria, the Niger Delta and Mozambique. , characterized by pollution and speculation by a few, while the locals remained poor. He blamed political leaders for ignoring these concerns: “Unfortunately, African politicians acting as intermediaries in transnational corporations are happy to parrot this song despite local resistance and the reality of fossil fuel echoes.” Omar Elmawi, coordinator of the StopEACOP campaign in East Africa, said: “Decades after the exploitation of fossil fuels in Africa, we have not yet improved energy poverty and countries continue to drown in unsustainable loans from fossil fuels. “Companies registered in the global north have continued to benefit from this dirty fossil fuel in Africa and all that remains for us is the impact on people, nature and the climate.” The issue of gas in Africa is likely to become a flashpoint at the UN Cop27 climate summit in Egypt in November. Robinson’s views, first expressed in an interview with the Guardian, sparked a clash at the UN climate talks in Bonn, where countries have been meeting for the past fortnight in preparatory negotiations for the Cop27. Several African countries are believed to want to use Cop27 to argue that the continent will be able to exploit its natural gas, exploiting the fossil fuel source that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Egypt is sympathetic, with Finance Minister Mohamed Maait telling a London City audience recently that poor countries should not be “punished”. However, Guterres made it clear in a speech Tuesday morning at the Austrian World Summit in Vienna that no investment should be made in new fossil fuels. Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7 p.m. BST He said: “The new funding for fossil fuel research and production infrastructure is delusional. It will further fuel the scourge of war, pollution and climate change. “The only true path to energy security, stable energy prices, prosperity and a sustainable planet lies in the abandonment of polluting fossil fuels, especially coal, and the acceleration of the transition to energy based on renewable energy sources.” He did not specifically mention Africa, but indicated that the continent was included, adding: “Renewable energy is the 21st century peace plan. Cheaper, more reliable and fairer energy options are already available in the form of wind and solar. This applies to all areas. “ He called for tripling investment in renewable energy, the removal of bureaucracy that hindered wind and solar projects, and more of the underlying technology to be made available for use in poor countries through the sharing of intellectual property known as technology transfer.
