Launch Of The African Union Transition Fuels Oversight & Regulatory Management Accelerator At COP27

Tackling the combined challenges of COVID-19 recovery, climate change and overall sustainable development requires significant resources that can only be delivered through strong partnerships and coordination. For instance, the Climate Policy Initiative estimates that Africa needs about $2.8 trillion between 2020 and 2030 to implement our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. This translates to about $277 billion per annum but annual climate finance flows in Africa stand at only $29.5 billion[1].

Innovations like the 4D Digital Green Corridor and Transforma, by creating ready platforms for Pan-African collaboration, are critical to finance and more broadly, resource mobilization on the continent. And it is exciting to see that this comes as other initiatives such as the African Carbon Market initiative is being announced.

Our case as a continent, particularly with respect to the just energy transition is cogent and irrefutable. We cannot accept a global energy transition that leaves millions of our people in the dark, exposed to harmful pollutants due to unclean cooking, or poor and unemployed because of limited industrial activity.

Africa deserves the policy flexibility and support to leverage natural gas for the speedy resolution of our energy needs. Countries including the U.S, China, and Japan, large parts of Asia and the EU include gas as a major pillar of their multi-decadal decarbonization strategies. Similarly, natural gas has a key role to play in Africa as a transition fuel to facilitate the delivery of electricity access and clean cooking solutions, the scaleup and integration of renewable energy into the energy mix and the switch from dirtier fuels like diesel and petrol.

With developments like the Kigali Communiqué which came out of the Sustainable Energy for All Forum in May and the Common Position on Energy Access and Just Transition adopted by the African Union Executive Council, it is clear that our joint advocacy on principles for a just transition is getting stronger, our home-grown solutions must do the same.

Across the continent, many of our challenges and priorities are shared. African governments are tasked with eradicating poverty, providing opportunities for our expanding populations, delivering robust healthcare solutions and unlocking prosperity for future generations, to name a few.

The beneficial role of Pan-African cooperation on these issues has been established. Reports from the World Bank estimate that the AfCFTA could raise income on the continent by over $450 billion by 2035 and lift 50 million people out of extreme poverty[2]. Importantly, the continent could see foreign direct investment increase by between 111 percent and 159 percent under the AfCFTA.

Our priority must therefore be the maximization of this potential which is what the 4D Digital Green Industrial Corridor and Transforma propose to do.

The initial focus of Transforma on Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) is also fitting given their multisectoral relevance. Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) serve as clean cooking solutions in the form of LPG, inputs to industrial processes like petrochemicals and plastics production, and cleaner transportation fuels.


*****************


The official YouTube channel for Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON.

Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo is a Nigerian Lawyer and Politician who is the current Vice President of Nigeria, in office since 29 May 2015.

Follow Prof. Osinbajo online:
Website: www.yemiosinbajo.ng
Facebook: Professor Yemi Osinbajo
Twitter: @ProfOsinbajo
Instagram: @ProfOsinbajo
TikTok: @ProfOsinbajo

свернуть