The sentiment with which African and non-African heads of government meet today in Nairobi to discuss the climate is one of redemption. A noble sentiment but which for the countries of the sun-rich continent means respect, dignity, development and above all money. Those that are repeatedly written in the official documents of the UN conferences. But then…
Let's start here. Two years later COP26 of Glasgow dei 100 billion dollars promised by rich countries for the fight against climate change, nothing more is known. The UN Secretary General will be in Nairobi António Guterres who will have with him that document which speaks of the prized "bag". After Nairobi we move towards COP28 in Dubai in December and not even the most optimistic of environmentalists can think that a few cents of those promised dollars will be paid in the meantime.
Among the skyscrapers of Dubai in December
Let's continue. In Dubai, the United Arab Emirates know how to manage the conference that with their oil they cause some (!) damage to the environment. The representatives of Africa they will discuss for three days and for the following three months they will work to give body and soul to that form of redemption mentioned above. Those who hope that the definitive stop to fossil fuels will come among the skyscrapers of Dubai in December are deluding themselves. Oil, natural gas, liquefied gas and more keep much of the industrialized world going. Of course, we will hear from you again refrain of the 2015 Paris COP on the limit of rglobal warming at +1,5°C. But it will be a refrain out of tune after seven years, especially since the climate cure according to the International World Fund must reach i 2 trillion dollars per year within a decade. We ask Scrooge McDuck ?
Go on. The whole world is lagging behind on climate containment goals. If on the one hand we see the glaciers melting, the drought that deprives us of essential products, on the other what do we do? The sun is not being exploited as it should be, only 3% of investments in the energy transition arrive in Africa, the renewable power installed throughout the continent is the same as that of Belgium. Not last, 500 million Africans they have no access to electricity and 40% of the world's reserves of cobalt, manganese and platinum are here. The rich exploit them, however, to build batteries.
Africa as a solution and not a problem
Let's continue. “Africa is not a victim but a key player in solving the global climate crisis through green growth,” he said Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi, vice president of the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET). just a dream, just a dream ? No. Did you know that Kenya has 94% of its electricity from renewable sources? L'Africa as a solution and no longer as a problem, it was said yesterday on the eve of the Nairobi summit in an attempt not to lose a decade of promises written in invisible ink.
Let's conclude. Africa must distance itself from the global battles between China, the United States and Europe so as not to be crushed or perhaps completely erased by climate change, famine, exploitation and dictatorships. Those battles must be fought in a completely different way and without false rhetoric like that which advocates a "Mattei plan" by piercing the desert and placing new pipes. “We will be at the table, and certainly not on the menu, as we have been up to now. This continent, on the other hand, can skip the dirty energy phase and become a green leader“ said the director of Power Shift Africa, Mohamed Adow, Agency engaged in the climate battle. There is nothing else to add.
