Africa to be $2.5tr short of climate finance by 2030, UN says
Africa will be $2.5-trillion short of the finance it needs to cope with climate change by 2030, a UN official said on Monday, adding that the continent has contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions while seeing some of the worst impacts.
Africa attracts only 2% of global investments in clean energy but needs $2.8-trillion of investment in the sector by 2030, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa chief economist Hanan Morsy told a conference in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, warning against the consequences of under-funding.
"We end up in a vicious circle with investment shortfalls increasing exposure risk and worsening impact, further eroding fiscal space and raising finance costs," she said.
Despite producing low emissions compared to other continents, climate change is costing African countries 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) annually, Morsy said.
On average, each African produced 1.04 t of carbon dioxide emissions in 2021, less than a quarter of the global average, a joint UN-African Union report found last year.
The report said the average rate of warming in Africa was 0.3 °C per decade in the 1991-2022 period, compared with 0.2 °C in the world as a whole.
"The situation is further compounded by heavy public debt," Morsy said, adding that African countries pay 1.7 percentage points higher interest on debt than other countries.
"Countries are spending more servicing their debt than on climate action."
Many speakers at the UNECA conference called for global financial architecture reform.
"We must address the issue of unfair risk perceptions and credit ratings that offer Africa limited borrowing options," UNECA Executive Secretary Claver Gatete said.
He cited data from the UN Development Program that estimated that the subjectivity of credit ratings was costing Africa up to $74.5-billion.
Comments
Research Reports
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
For over 30 years, Werner South Africa Pumps & Equipment (PTY) LTD has been designing, manufacturing, supplying and maintaining specialist...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Weir is a global leader in mining technology. We recognise that our planet’s future depends on the transition to renewable energy, and that...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
