For oil and gas to remain important components of global energy mix, Africa must place a high premium on effective strategies for combating climate change to ensure sustainable management and maintenance of healthy landscapes, to jump start socio-economic development, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
By Eddy Ochigbo
The challenge posed by climate change has made it obligatory upon environmentalists and key stakeholders across the international community – especially in Africa – for deliberate and systematic integration of trees, crops and livestock, to ensure sustainable management and maintenance of healthy landscapes.
According to Re-greening Africa – an organization charged with the responsibility of restoring ecosystems in eight African countries and improving the resilience of half a million households across sub-Saharan Africa, 83% of people in sub-Saharan Africa are dependent on land for their livelihoods, yet two-thirds of land is highly degraded, thereby threatening livelihoods, food and nutrition security of the poorest; most vulnerable farmers and pastoralists.
One individual who is in the forefront of the campaign to re-green Africa is the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva. In a keynote address entitled ‘Towards a Greener Africa’, at the recently-concluded Nigeria-Africa Natural Resource Summit in Abuja, Sylva emphasized the need for Africa to place a high premium on strategies that would effectively combat climate change and engender sustainable economic development in the continent.
“It gives me great pleasure to be here today to address this esteemed audience that I consider important partners in achieving a greener Africa, while at the same time ensuring Africa energy security”, Sylva said, pointing out that the key consideration in every country’s energy policy should be pivoted on energy security as it constitutes a very high priority goal for nations all over the globe.
The Summit themed: ‘Towards a Greener Africa’, dwelt on why oil and gas will remain important components of the global energy mix for decades to come because they will continue to be needed and essential for propelling global socio-economic development, especially in energy poor countries, mostly in Africa, specifically sub-Saharan Africa.
Chief Sylva maintained that “fossil fuel, used with appropriate technologies, should be a part of the solution to climate change in energy-poor countries.
“It is imperative that every nation and region comes up with a green initiative to foster a collective combat against the incessant threat to the planet caused by CO2 emission. Such initiatives must be bold, decisive and on target.
“It should however be borne in mind that such initiatives should reflect the realities and conditions prevailing in these places, particularly the socio-economic development and energy needs. That makes energy security synonymous with optimum and sustainable economic growth. Energy is an indispensable ingredient for human development and socio-economic prosperity. It is central to jobs creation, security, health, and other challenges facing humans. This is why access to energy is prominently addressed in the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development Goals. In particular, SDG 7 focusses on access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, as a fundamental right”, Sylva remarked.
According to him based on the UN data, about 760 million people lack access to electricity worldwide, with 3 out of 4 of them living in sub-Saharan Africa and one-third of the world’s population – about 2.6 billion people – have no access to clean cooking fuels, with over 900 million of these in sub-Saharan Africa.
“On the average, only 48% of sub-Saharan Africa population have access to electricity, while only 18% have access to clean cooking fuels, compared with a global average of 90% and 70%, respectively. In relation to CO2 emission, World Bank statistics shows that the world average of CO2 emissions was 4.48 metric tons per capita in 2018, with some regions and individual countries recording five to seven times this value. Emission by sub-Saharan Africa in total was only 0.76 metric tons per capita.
“The implication of the above is that the issues surrounding energy poverty, climate and sustainable development are not mutually exclusive. Consequently, the approaches to attending to these issues should not be disconnected. Climate change is definitely of serious concern to Africa. But of equal concern is the alarming level of energy poverty. Both must be addressed in a sustainable manner. It must be a win-win situation”, he said.
The minister went on: “Energy transition is about providing clean energy, and not about discriminating between energy sources. In the face of the current high level of energy poverty worldwide, especially in Africa, all energy sources will be required to achieve the sustainable development goal of providing access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. It is evident that this goal cannot be achieved by renewable energy sources alone. All available energy sources should be considered, while available technologies, like the carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), should be employed to make them cleaner.
“In particular, Natural gas is widely seen as a low carbon emitting energy source that could play a major role in the energy transition quest. Natural gas is known to emit 30% less CO2 compared to oil, and almost 70% less compared to coal, for an equivalent amount of energy supply. It is well positioned to become the dominant fuel for generating power worldwide. It is worth noting that the European Commission is making a move to classify Nuclear and Natural Gas energy sources as ‘green’”.
He revealed that Nigeria has already made a strong commitment towards embracing energy transition and pledged to significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, adding the country “is following a transition pathway that combines technology, investment, business strategies, and government policy that will enable it to transit from its current energy system to a low-carbon energy system with natural gas playing a pivotal role.
“Nigeria needs affordable, reliable and sustainable energy resources to eradicate the prevalent energy poverty in the shortest time possible, and propel economic growth. The only viable option currently on the table is natural gas, considering our vast proven gas endowments, put at 209 tcf, with 600 tcf potential reserves. We cannot ignore this resource, especially when energy poverty is viciously starring at us.
“The goal of Nigeria’s gas policy is to ensure that gas development is undertaken in accordance with our socio-economic development priorities. The aim is to guarantee long-term energy security in the country, and boost the domestic gas market. Hence the declaration of 2021-to-2030 as the ‘Decade of Gas’ by Mr. President. We have embarked on a critical pathway to ensuring that our abundant Natural gas resources is marshalled to engender domestic economic growth and development.
“In this regard, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources has launched the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) as part of the National Gas Policy to expand Nigeria’s Domestic gas utilization; the National Gas Flare Commercialization Programme; as well as specific provisions in the new Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) that elevates LPG as the fuel of choice compared to other competing fuels”, Sylva summed up.
Stakeholders and industry watchers maintain that tackling the challenge of climate change in relation to energy security, demands an ambitious approach to reverse land degradation in Africa, with a view to scaling up relevant options across the African continent for a new dawn.