Post by ck4829 on Feb 16, 2022 17:33:16 GMT
For Climate Justice In Africa, Rich Nations Must Admit To Past Wrongs, Climate Experts Hear
The process of getting rich nations to deliver on their promises to the developing world should begin in the classroom, with children being taught about the West’s history of colonialism and slavery, a panel of climate experts has been told.
At an online meeting of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group, with guests including American science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson, British climate scientist Mark Maslin said the way to compel the West to uphold its commitments to poorer nations was to ensure the public understood the role today’s richest countries had had in impoverishing countries in the global south.
“In Western countries, we need to go back to basics and teach our history properly,” Maslin said. “We actually need people to understand what we did in the past. What was the impact of colonization? What was the impact of slavery? What was the impact of us causing, even in the 60s and 70s, major revolutions in countries because we wanted their oil? Kids don’t know that.”
During the COP26 climate talks in November, the West once again delayed establishing an annual $100 billion dollar fund to support climate action in the developing world. It also emerged that the U.S. and Europe had actively sabotaged a mechanism that would have required rich countries to pay restitution to poor nations.
Such acts of sabotage are having real-world consequences. In December, the Africa Solar Industry Association reported that the entire continent installed just 0.9 gigawatts of solar generation capacity in 2021, compared to 191 gigawatts in the rest of the world. The data indicate that the amount of solar being installed in Africa is actually reducing, with last year’s total being the lowest rate of installation since 2013.
This is alarming news, especially in a continent so rich in renewable resources, and so lacking in affordable electricity generation. A new study from the University of Oxford demonstrates that renewable energy investments in African nations would provide significantly cheaper electricity than their fossil counterparts. In South Africa, for example, new windfarms could cost 16.7% less per unit of energy than if the country were to build more coal-fired power plants. But a lack of coordination and support from institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, combined with extremely high capital costs, are converging to prevent African nations from building new, large-scale renewables projects, as reported by Forbes Sustainability in July.
It’s a vicious circle. Little wonder that some African activists scorn processes like COP26, which they see—with considerable justification—as being dominated by Western interests.
www.forbes.com/sites/davidrvetter/2022/02/10/for-climate-justice-in-africa-rich-nations-must-admit-to-past-wrongs-climate-experts-hear/?sh=633f82d55c32
The process of getting rich nations to deliver on their promises to the developing world should begin in the classroom, with children being taught about the West’s history of colonialism and slavery, a panel of climate experts has been told.
At an online meeting of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group, with guests including American science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson, British climate scientist Mark Maslin said the way to compel the West to uphold its commitments to poorer nations was to ensure the public understood the role today’s richest countries had had in impoverishing countries in the global south.
“In Western countries, we need to go back to basics and teach our history properly,” Maslin said. “We actually need people to understand what we did in the past. What was the impact of colonization? What was the impact of slavery? What was the impact of us causing, even in the 60s and 70s, major revolutions in countries because we wanted their oil? Kids don’t know that.”
During the COP26 climate talks in November, the West once again delayed establishing an annual $100 billion dollar fund to support climate action in the developing world. It also emerged that the U.S. and Europe had actively sabotaged a mechanism that would have required rich countries to pay restitution to poor nations.
Such acts of sabotage are having real-world consequences. In December, the Africa Solar Industry Association reported that the entire continent installed just 0.9 gigawatts of solar generation capacity in 2021, compared to 191 gigawatts in the rest of the world. The data indicate that the amount of solar being installed in Africa is actually reducing, with last year’s total being the lowest rate of installation since 2013.
This is alarming news, especially in a continent so rich in renewable resources, and so lacking in affordable electricity generation. A new study from the University of Oxford demonstrates that renewable energy investments in African nations would provide significantly cheaper electricity than their fossil counterparts. In South Africa, for example, new windfarms could cost 16.7% less per unit of energy than if the country were to build more coal-fired power plants. But a lack of coordination and support from institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, combined with extremely high capital costs, are converging to prevent African nations from building new, large-scale renewables projects, as reported by Forbes Sustainability in July.
It’s a vicious circle. Little wonder that some African activists scorn processes like COP26, which they see—with considerable justification—as being dominated by Western interests.
www.forbes.com/sites/davidrvetter/2022/02/10/for-climate-justice-in-africa-rich-nations-must-admit-to-past-wrongs-climate-experts-hear/?sh=633f82d55c32