[ad_1]
Sub-Saharan Africa has recorded an positive shift to cleaner, more sustainable energy sources. But these steps have not been accompanied by equitable access to affordable and reliable clean energy, a potential drawback to useful adaptability against climate change.
The Energy Transition Index (Eti), a metric by the World Economic Forum (Wef) that measures the performance of energy systems and countries’ transition readiness, shows that despite positive signs on use of cleaner energy sources, there has been little improvement in ensuring equitable access to electricity in the region over the last decade.
And global economic shocks haven’t helped, shaking the world’s economy in the past three years, slowing down countries’ efforts to ensure equitable access to affordable and reliable energy for all.
According to a new report by Wef and consulting firm Accenture titled Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2023, the energy crisis occasioned by the Russia-Ukraine war, Covid-19 pandemic and last year’s cost-of-living crisis led to challenges of affordability of energy, shortages and blackouts in different parts of the globe, especially in developing countries.
Read: Is it time for energy transition in Africa? That’s the question
As a result, the momentum towards a just and equitable transition, of the past decade, slowed in the last three years, dimming the prospects of achieving the UN SDG of reliable, sustainable energy access for all by 2030, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“The recent turbulence in energy markets has exposed how interconnected energy prices are with macroeconomic and social stability. This has, put developing countries at risk of losing momentum gained before the energy crisis on access to affordable, sustainable energy,” Roberto Bocca, Wef’s head of energy, minerals and infrastructure said.
The Eti, which ranks countries based on how their energy systems are equitable, secure and sustainable and how they provide an enabling environment for transition to cleaner energy sources, showed that Sub-Saharan Africa, despite improvements, still lags behind.
Kenya is the best performer in Africa, in terms of systems performance and transition readiness, with a score of 57.8 percent, an improvement of 10.56 percent since 2014, and 1.5 percent higher than the global average. Nairobi was ranked 46th globally, in a list of 120 countries. Tanzania and DR Congo follow, albeit with poor performance of 42.9 and 42.3 percent, at third and second last in the ranking respectively. Other countries in the region didn’t make the list.
Read: US gives $89m for clean energy projects in East Africa
The shocks of the past three years forced countries to focus more on ensuring energy security – consistent supply of energy – and sustainability – use of cleaner energy sources – than equity in energy supply, meaning that many people, especially in developing countries, have been left without access to affordable and reliable energy sources.
Mr Bocca said this is an indication that as much as strides are being made to accelerate transition to cleaner sources of energy, it is important for countries to balance the “improvements in energy security, sustainability and equity.”
Accenture’s global resources industry practice lead Stephanie Jamison argues that if this trend is allowed to continue, it is highly unlikely that the 2050 target for net-zero emissions will be achieved, as the world’s most vulnerable populations remain without access to clean affordable energy.
“The focus must shift to helping more populous, developing nations make faster progress, which, while committed to decarbonisation, lack the financial and technological capability to fully develop their renewable energy resources,” she said in a statement by Wef last week.
“The window of opportunity for reaching net-zero targets is closing and countries must move urgently to cleaner energy systems. Leveraging technology – both physical and digital, including data and AI – will be essential,” added Muqsit Ashraf, Accenture’s global strategy lead.
[ad_2]
Source link
