Energy and environment in Africa - the twin challenge of climate change mitigation and sustainable development

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

  2  

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 Review 2 – 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.

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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:

¾ Increased emissions of GHGs since 1750 are almost certainly of human origin.

¾ 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. ¾ 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.

¾ 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.

¾ 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.

¾ 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

UNFCCC 3 . 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 CO 2 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 inhabitants 5

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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Development Bank, 2008) such as crop residues, dry animal dung patties, bundles of twigs from scrublands, fuel wood and charcoal from rapidly disappearing forests and woods. The Graph below illustrates global Access to modern utility services across the income distribution

(Source: World Bank, 2005)

Endemic low per-capita consumption of energy is both a cause and a consequence of Africa’s prolonged poor socio-economic performance in the three decades since the first oil shock. Energy poverty, especially in Sub-Sahara Africa, manifests itself in a number of ways:

¾ In most African countries, less than 10 per cent of rural population has access to modern energy services 7 . More than 600 million people live in homes with no electricity connection and more than half of these lack capacity to pay for regular energy supplies (electricity, liquid fuels or gaseous fuels).

There are wide variations in rates of access to electricity among countries and between sub-regions and between rural and urban populations across the continent. As the graphs above and below show, universal access has almost been attained across North Africa. At the other end of the continent in South Africa, about 70% of households are connected. In

21 SSA countries, however, less than 10% of the population lives in dwellings with

electricity. Access in rural areas is significantly lower. There is significant variation even among sub-regions of Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA): “access rates are 29% in West Africa, 8 10% in Eastern Africa, 9 and 9% in Central Africa 10 and the Island States”. 11

7 - UNDP white Paper for Regional Policy in Africa, 2005.

8 - Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo: all members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). 9 - Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania (United Republic of), and Uganda: all of them members of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), and (except Tanzania) members of the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

10 - Cameroon, Central Africa, Chad, Congo (People’s Republic of), Congo (Democratic Republic of), Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon: all members of the Communauté Economique et Monétaire de l’Afrique Centrale (CEMAC). Congo (DR) is also a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

11 - Cape Verde (ECOWAS), Comoros (COMESA), Equatorial Guinea (CEMAC), Madagascar (SADC), Mauritius (SADC), Sao Tomé and Principe (CEEAC), and Seychelles (COMESA).

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