2023-11-29 00:06:07
The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterresand the Chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, jointly spoke two days before the United Nations Climate Conference, COP28, in the United Arab Emirates, where they will both be present .
“This major meeting must be an opportunity to make advocacy, particularly for the African continent, which is negatively impacted by climate change even though it is the least polluting,” Mr. Faki immediately underlined.
The press briefing took place at the end of the 7th session of the high-level dialogue between the AU and the United Nations.
On the issue of energy transition, which will be so much discussed in Dubai, Mr. Faki both praised the continent’s potential in terms of energy development and put things into perspective, recalling that the African continent had nearly 600 million of residents “not yet knowing regarding electricity”.
“Profitable investment”
Africa, he once more recalled, “is 1.4 billion inhabitants. That’s 30 million square kilometers. This is between 60 and 65% of unexploited Arab land. It’s the Congo Basin.” Territories benefiting from almost daily sunshine.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres (left) meets with African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, February 2023.
“There are rivers, there are streams, so there is an opportunity for clean energy, renewable energy, green energy. Substantial investments and the necessary technology still need to be made available. I insist on this: I am sure that this investment will be profitable,” said the senior African Union official.
The transition must also take into account the pace to adopt to abandon fossil energy in Africa without compromising development: “I know that [la COP 27 de] Glasgow, it was decided not to finance fossil fuels. We are all for clean energy, but it must be gradual and according to the needs of the countries,” he stressed.
The promise of “100 billion dollars per year for Africa” has not been achieved, “while the needs are 10 times greater, according to estimates by specialized institutions. So here is the question: we are waiting for concrete measures to be taken during this COP 28,” insisted the head of the AU Commission.
« Double injustice »
The UN chief shared his African counterpart’s analysis regarding the notion of justice “which Africa needs above all else”. Particularly “in international relations, because Africa has been the victim of structural injustices in our international relations,” noted Mr. Guterres.
In fact, for the UN chief, Africa is “the victim of a double injustice”: the historical injustice linked to colonialism and slavery; and the current injustice linked to the architecture of international relations, particularly in relation to financial and economic power.
“This is why we are so keen to reform international financial institutions, to ensure that they reflect today’s economy, not the post-World War II economy, and that developing countries have more power.”
“No donations, just investments”
For the African energy transition, “it is not donations that we are expecting, just investments”, finally qualified the head of the AU Commission, to “establish new and clean energy, stabilize and develop the continent, and perhaps resolve problems such as migration, which has become an extremely sensitive subject today, particularly with our immediate neighbor Europe.
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