Africa negotiators in Paris must push for green growth

Opinion and Analysis

 

President Uhuru Kenyatta and Environment Cabinet Secretary Prof. Judy Wakhungu during the Conference of Parties Meeting (COP21) at Le Bourget in Paris, France. PSCU  

 

By EDWARD MUNGAI

In Summary

• After the pitfalls of the Kyoto Protocol, the continent is due a fair deal at the COP21 to enable it face global warming challenges with greater resilience

Africa’s robust economic growth, currently averaging five per cent a year, over the last 10 years, places the continent among the fastest growing regions in the world.

But even with this rapid economic growth, poverty rates remain high on the continent, inequality persists, hunger remains widespread and access to energy remains inadequate.

Climate change, population growth and shifting consumption patterns are putting additional pressure on Africa’s natural resources.

In particular, climate change poses a threat to Africa’s economic growth by compounding the existing effects of natural and human actions, and by introducing new risks.

The effects of climate change are already evident, through frequent droughts, unpredictable seasons, increased rainfall and rising temperatures, predominantly due to human activities.

Africa emits less than four per cent of global greenhouse gases (GHGs) but due to its high climate sensitivity and relatively low adaptive capacity, it is widely viewed as the most vulnerable to the resulting increase in temperature.

In addition, Africa’s population is growing, bringing with it new challenges. A rapidly growing population will continue to exert pressure on limited natural resources at a time when they are dwindling.

The majority of the continent’s poor depend on natural resources for their livelihoods. For instance, the agriculture sector employs about 60 per cent of Africa’s total population and contributes a third of Africa’s GDP while an estimated 70 per cent of African households rely on wood fuel for cooking and heating.

Continued use of natural resources to satisfy these needs inevitably requires they are managed sustainably. The African negotiators at the ongoing climate conference (COP 21) in Paris must therefore have the next generation in mind.

Africa’s challenges are unique and any solution agreed on should be of benefit to the continent. The negotiators should avoid a repeat of what happened with the Kyoto Protocol.

African negotiators had a lot of hope that some elements of the Protocol would help Africa face climate impacts with greater resilience, but that did not happen.

The Protocol has not benefited Africa as much as other regions because the African negotiators did not pay close attention to some of the issues. The negotiators should keep in mind that green growth is a key solution to climate change in Africa.

It is important that the new protocol provides incentives for greening African economies.

Embracing green growth can secure a strong stable and sustainable future for developing countries. The rapid population growth being experienced today brings with it growing demands for food, water and energy.

Seven billion people inhabit the world today and by 2050, this number will rise to nine billion, stretching the resilience of social and environmental systems in our already resource-constrained world.

The environmental challenges faced by developing countries today call for a radical shift in how these countries view growth and development.

Developing economies tend to be particularly exposed to environmental challenges, as their economies are heavily dependent on natural resources for development.

In fact, on average, natural capital comprises 25 per cent of total per capita wealth in low-income countries, compared to only two per cent in developed countries.

Environmental challenges in developing countries are exacerbated by other development challenges such as inequality, poverty, rapid population growth and urbanisation.

In the face of these severe challenges, developing countries need to explore new models of growth that can boost development while at the same time alleviate poverty, improve quality of life, preserve natural assets and raise economic growth prospects.

Green growth provides such an avenue — it is an approach that integrates environmental considerations and the value of natural capital into economic decision making and development planning.

Green growth puts human wellbeing at the centre of development. By explicitly accounting for the environment and the value of natural assets, green growth expands traditional definitions of wealth to include wellbeing, and the quality of that growth and development.

Far from being a replacement to sustainable development, green growth is actually a means to achieve it.

Countries now realise that development that is not based on green growth may lead to prosperity, but only in the short term, and will soon be undermined by insecurity and vulnerability.

Managing the risks associated with these emerging challenges through adopting green strategies could ensure efficient, sustainable and robust development in Africa.

These strategies will include greening agricultural practices through promoting agroforestry and organic farming, improved land management practices, adoption and deployment of low-carbon technologies — renewable energy technologies, improving energy efficiency, promoting sustainable modes of transport, and developing smart cities amongst others.

Providing access to green technologies is seen as being key in increasing productivity and efficiency in various sectors.

For example in agriculture, green technologies have the potential to increase land productivity by reducing water input, fertiliser and pesticide use, energy and other inputs, while increasing yields per hectare.

Green technologies can also increase the efficiency of energy consumption. However, to accelerate the widespread adoption  of efficient technologies, increased domestic innovation capacities should be built and supported by facilitating the related knowledge, expertise and transfer.

At the same time incentives and an enabling environment will help in the deployment of technologies and innovations that will make Africa more resilient climate change.

Any deal to be arrived at COP21 should factor in the provision of factors to enable transformation in the shortest time before further rise in temperatures as a result of climate change.

From the perspective of the African governments, there are several options for promoting green growth and enabling the transition toward greener economies.

The most strategic of these is mainstreaming of green growth into development planning and ensuring an enabling environment is in place.

This could be done through the budgeting and legislative processes. Key entry points for mainstreaming green growth are the national development planning cycles, where green growth approaches can be incorporated in development objectives.

The government should also incentivise the private sector to play a leading role in making the shift from the black economy to the green economy.

Mungai is the chief executive officer of Kenya Climate Innovation Centre. emungai@kenyacic.org