By Friday Phiri-

African Group of Negotiators (AGN) Chairperson Ephraim Mwepya Shitima believes that the continent cannot afford to be academic about its needs at this year’s United Nations (UN) climate change Conference of Parties (COP) 27 planned for in Egypt in November.
Addressing journalists and communicators specialised in climate change reporting in Nairobi, Kenya, at the launch of the Africa Climate Story Media Initiative (ACSMI), Mr Shitima said COP27 is crucial to Africa’s climate action agenda, highlighting adaptation as a critical point of negotiation for the continent.
Mr Shitima, who is also UNFCCC focal point for Zambia outlined Africa’s priority focus for COP27, which include: global goal on adaptation, loss and damage, finance, technology and adaptive capacity, market mechanism, transparency of action and support and global stocktake which is due in 2023.
“For example, adaptation is critical for Africa. We, therefore, cannot afford to be academic about the continent’s needs at COP27,” he said.
Mr Shitima further said it is very important that the global stocktake, which is due in 2023, is comprehensive and not just focused on what has been achieved since the Paris Agreement in 2015.
He also highlighted the key outcomes from COP26 upon which the AGN is building its foundation for COP27 negotiations—billed as the African COP.
Earlier Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Forestry Keriako Tobiko said the first priority for COP27 should be the acceptance of the special needs circumstances of Africa.
Mr Tobiko said it was no longer climate change but a climate crisis that requires urgent attention especially for Africa which is already suffering the consequences of climate change.
“We have moved from climate change to a climate crisis and a climate emergency and the media has the power to drive action,” he said.
In the context of Africa’s investments in climate change mitigation and adaptation, the gathering discussed the importance of renewable energy and how African countries can transition to green economic development pathways by investing in renewable energy sources.
Sadly, according to available statistics by the African Development Bank (AfDB), over 600 million Africans lack access to electricity, while over 700 million are without clean energy for cooking.
It is for this reason that Africa’s energy transition has been a recurring topic of discussion in the context of climate action.
For example, in 2016, at the AfDB annual meetings in Lusaka, African leaders debated the continent’s transition to renewable energy in the context of the United Nations Climate Paris Agreement.
The question was, and remains, whether the continent should lead the way on green growth or follow a carbon intensive path that the developed countries took to achieve industrialisation?
Former Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo argued for Africa’s right to do so.
“We in Africa must use what we have to get what we need. The West used coal to develop and I think we should also be allowed to pollute a bit and then, we will all join in cleaning up,” said Obasanjo during a panel discussion on Africa’s New Deal on Energy, one of AFDB’s initiatives launched during the annual meetings.
While Obasanjo’s line of thought seemed out of place considering the world’s renewable energy push, there seems to be a sense of support for the continent’s right to develop as it pleases, especially that big polluters have seemingly continued to be elusive on financial support and emission cuts.
“It is not right and not necessary to ask hungry people on their dietary preferences; all they need is food,” said Augustine Njamnshi of the Africa Coalition for Sustainable Energy Access (ACSEA).
“It is our considered view that we must first sort out governance issues hindering access,” Njamnshi said.
However, Kenya has stood out of the rest through its ambitious geothermal electricity generation.
With the largest Geothermal Electricity Plant in Africa, Kenya, through Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC (KenGen), generates up to 799 megawatts (MW) of power from its Naivasha Plant.
On July 26, 2022, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta commissioned KenGen’s Olkaria I additional unit (AU) 6 Geothermal Power Plant, injecting an additional 86MW into the national grid further advancing
Kenya’s green energy leadership.
Dr Anna Mwangi, a Physicist at KenGen, told a delegation of journalists and communication experts from across Africa that several countries on the contient have the potential for geothermal power.
She said according to available data, several African countries have the potential for geothermal energy although it is capital intensive in initial stages.
But she said geothermal energy is a worthwhile investment in the long run.
The climate finance question has alwasy been a touchy subject at the UN conference of parties negotiations.
The inconsistent flow of financial resources, coupled with lukewarm emission cut commitments by developed country parties could be the cause for African leaders’ defying tone to take a lead on renewable energy despite being fully in support of the Paris climate deal.
This was a key argument that Mr Tobiko put across to journalists.
“It is important for Africa’s special circumstances to be recognised.
African countries have been mobilising resources and financing climate impacts but this contribution is neither acknowledged nor quantified.
The climate crisis is not just a developmental issue but is also an issue of security and climate justice. The Developed parties must pay particular attention to this subject for climate action success,” he said.
Whichever route Africa takes to achieve its ambition of universal access to energy, geothermal energy offers a clean and reliable route.
Goothermal is a renewable energy source from continuous heat produced inside the earth’s crust, and the high pressure hot steam is captured through special drilled wells of up to 2km into the earth surface and used to power up turbines for electricity generation.
African journalists have thus been identified to tell the African narrative and support the continent’s climate action agenda through the Africa Climate Story Media Initiative (ACSMI).
ACSMI is a partnership between the Pan African Media Alliance for Climate Change (PAMACC)—a network of African Journalists who report on climate change, environment, sustainable development and related subjects and AfricaonAir—a dynamic media and content production platform working with media owners, investors, regulators, managers, journalists, training institutions and donors to support the re-tooling, re-skilling and re-imagining of a new vibrant media sector capable of advancing peaceful, wealthy and just societies in Africa and beyond.
ACSMI’s goal is to amplify Africa’s voice on climate ahead of the UN climate summit (COP 27) in Egypt and beyond.
The author is manager corporate affairs at ZEMA; fphiri@zema.org.zm