President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to energy investors in Europe and America to lift the moratorium they have placed on investment in fossil fuel in Africa, insisting that the continent needs those funds to transit successful to net zero.
The president, while recognising the need to act fast to end greenhouse gas emissions, however, cautioned that it must not be rashly done as the current energy solutions proposed to address the climate crisis are fuel for the instability of which they warn.
As the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), the global summit on climate change continues in Glasgow, Scotland, President Buhari, in an article entitled ‘The Climate Crisis Will Not be Fixed by Causing an Energy Crisis in Africa’ on yesterday, expressed his opposition to energy solutions being proposed, saying that they can fuel instability.
According to him, even though greenhouse gas emission is a serious problem, decisions on checking it must not be rash.
“We must think carefully whether our dash to terminate the use of fossil fuels so swiftly is as wise as it sounds.
“There is no single “green bullet” that can be deployed either in Africa or the world that solves concerns of environmentalists while simultaneously offering the power to fuel hope of greater wealth and progress for the extra one billion citizens of our African future.”
President Buhari pointed out what can be done to transition to cleaner energy.
He said: “But there are certain things we can and must do—starting with transitioning to cleaner, but consistent energy production.
“Fossil fuel power generation that can provide electricity 24 hours a day in all conditions can be re-tooled greener through carbon capture and the conversion of coal and heavy fuel oil power stations to biomass.
“We can bring forward new technologies such as mini-hydropower plants which can operate and produce power day and night along shallow waterways without damaging the aquatic life on which local communities are sustained.
“We can also invest in nuclear. Though not renewable, it is carbon neutral and capable of producing baseload, constant electricity production on which sustained economic progress can be built.
“Nigeria is among a handful of African countries exploring nuclear power, with a research reactor already operational. And we can also learn from our friends in Europe and America who do not always practice what they preach.”
Buhari called for the lifting of the moratorium placed on fossil fuel investments in Africa, noting that Nigeria has pledged to eliminate illegal gas flaring by 2030—a by-product of our oil industry—and harness it for electricity production.
He added: “Our intention to end Nigeria’s single greatest contribution to greenhouse emissions may stall without it. Yet there are no such limitations on investment in natural gas power in the West where it is considered a transitional energy source.
“Dire warnings of the end of the world are as old as civilisation itself. But each year as the countdown to United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP) begins, they grow in volume and intensity.
“Recently, senior United Nations officials raised the alarm of “world conflict and chaos” and mass migrations and institutional collapse should greenhouse gas emissions remain unchecked for much longer.
“Mankind has a duty to act on these dangers. But because of their seriousness, we must not do so rashly. It is an inconvenient truth, but energy solutions proposed by those most eager to address the climate crisis are fuel for the instability of which they warn.
“No more clearly can this be seen than in Africa.
“For today’s 1.3 billion Africans, access to low-cost and reliable energy is the highest of all possible concerns.
“Estimated to rise to 2.5 billion by 2050, Nigeria alone is projected to have the second-largest population on the planet—this “great doubling” (for Nigeria, quadrupling) has the right to more dependable electricity than their forebears.
“Without extra and stable power, we cannot build the factories that will transform Africa from a low-job, extractives-led economy to a high employment middle-income continent.”
