Energy and environment in Africa: the twin challenge of

climate change mitigation and sustainable development

By Sebastian Veit
Environmental Economist

African Development Bank
Tunis, Tunisia

Table of contents

Abstract  3
1. Introduction  4
1.1. Background: the Evidence of Climate Change  4
1.2. Africa′s energy consumption  4
2. Addressing the challenge of clean energy transformation  7
2.1. Energy as a key pillar for sustained economic growth  7
2.2. Low access to renewable energy in Africa  8
2.3. Financing gap in African energy provision  8
2.4. Renewable energy development potentials and barriers  10
2.5. Barriers to CDM finance 12
II.5.a. General lack of capacity and institution to create an enabling environment  12
II.5.b. Technical Barriers:  12
II.5.c. Financial Barriers  13
II.5.d. Legal Barriers  13
II.5.e. Gaps in the CDM Framework  13
3. Meeting the twin challenge: response by the international community  14
3.1. The Gleneagles dialogue  14
3.2. implementation of the Climate Investment Funds  14
3.3. Conclusions 15
4. Bibliography  17
4.1. Documents  17
4.2. Internet resources  17

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Abstract

Climate change has emerged as the most critical challenge to sustained global economic growth, social well-being, quality of life, and political stability in the 21st century. In the last two years, two landmark reports ­ the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2007 report,1 and the Stern Review2 ­ have provided highly persuasive empirical evidence, analytical explanations of observed trends, and simulation model projections drawing stronger cause-and-effect linkages between human socio-economic activities and greenhouse gases (GHGs), and between the latter and climate change.

^{1 - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC [2007a]): Fourth Assessment Report; Report of Working Group 1: Climate Change 2007 - The Physical Science Basis: Summary for Policymakers; February 2007.
2 - Sir Nicolas Stern: Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change; October 2006}

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1. Introduction

1.1. Background: the Evidence of Climate Change

The scientific evidence for the aforementioned atmospheric changes and its impacts is summarized in the Fourth Assessment Report (February 2007) issued by the IPCC and it concludes that:

- Increased emissions of GHGs since 1750 are almost certainly of human origin.

- Cumulative build-up of long-lived GHGs is the primary cause for observed increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice in the Arctic and on the peaks of the world′s highest mountains, changing patterns of precipitation in six out of the seven continents, and the rising mean sea level.

- Even if all radioactive forcing agents are held constant at year-2000 levels, a further warming trend would occur in the next two decades at a rate of about 0.1°C per decade, due mainly to the slow response of the oceans. Anthropogenic warming would continue for centuries, due to the timescales associated with climate processes and feedbacks, even if greenhouse gas concentrations were stabilized.

- Continued GHG emissions at or above current rates would cause further warming and induce many changes in the global climate system during the 21st century that would very likely be larger than those observed during the 20th century.

- Hot extremes, heat waves, and heavy precipitation events will very likely continue to become more frequent; and future tropical cyclones, typhoons and hurricanes will become more intense, with larger peak wind speeds and more heavy precipitation associated with ongoing increases of tropical sea surface temperatures.

- Decreases in the amount of precipitation are likely in most subtropical land regions (by as much as about 20% in 2100), continuing observed patterns in recent trends.

Yet Africa contributes just over 4.9% of GHG emissions of all signatory countries of the UNFCCC3. Its contribution to world GHG emissions has increased only slightly in the past ten years. Whereby according to UNFCC GHG inventories, most of its GHG emissions are due to land use Change and Forestry. In particular, the continent is the lowest contributor to GHG emissions from energy generation activities across the world, representing only 3.8% of world CO2 emissions.4 Africa′s contribution to global emissions is so small largely because its per-capita consumption of energy is also the lowest among all regions of the world.

1.2. Africa′s energy consumption

Africa′s a significant net exporter of energy resources. Yet `its 930 million inhabitants5 consume the least amount of energy per capita. Some 650 million people in Sub-Sahara Africa,6 out of a total population of 728 million, depend on traditional biomass fuels′ (African [...]

^{3 - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: 162 countries out of 192 world countries signed the UNFCCC
4 - In comparison, Western Europe contributes almost 15.5% and North America just over 27%.
5 - This is the estimated population of the continent of Africa by the end of 2007.
6 - Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) is a vast region covering some 23.358 million square kilometres, excluding the 5 North African middle-income countries (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia) and the Republic of South Africa.}

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