António Guterres
The Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) has urged the United Nations Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals to have fair value chains for communities in Africa affected by climate change with meaningful benefits.
Speaking at the Africa Forward Summit opening ceremony in Nairobi, Antonio Guterres stressed that Africa is paying an enormous price in relation to the damage caused by climate change, and has been denied the resources and capacities to protect its population and infrastructure in these circumstances.
He said, “The people of Africa must benefit, first and most, from the resources of Africa.”
He stressed that Africa holds extraordinary reserves of the critical minerals the green transition depends on, stating that its resources have been extracted and the value captured elsewhere, with environmental damage left behind.
He further highlighted that climate change is not caused in Africa, however, the continent experiences the harshest consequences.
“Africa did not cause it, yet the continent is warming faster than the global average, bearing the harshest consequences – in displaced communities, lost harvests, and economic shocks,” he added, noting that Africa must be at the centre of climate justice as the continent holds 60 per cent of the world’s best solar potential and receives two per cent of global clean energy investment.
Mr. Guterres emphasised that with the right finance, Africa could generate ten times more electricity than it needs by 2040 entirely from renewables, however, 600 million Africans live without electricity, underscoring that the continent faces borrowing costs twice as high as OECD countries, which drains resources that should be building the continent’s future.
The UN Secretary General expressed sorrow for Africa over continued injustice from the world, stating that the global system is designed without Africa and operates without the continent, despite the number of people on the continent, stressing that it has no permanent seats on the UN Security Council.
“A global system designed without Africa and still largely operating without Africa, perpetuating century-old injustices. A continent of more than one and a half billion people, with no permanent seats on the UN Security Council, as was referred by President Ruto,” he stated.
He stressed that the world loses when the voice of Africa is not taken into account to help shape the economy.
“.And without the voice, representation, and decision-making power it deserves inside the international financial institutions that shape its economy. It is not Africa that loses. It is the world that loses by the fact that the voice of Africa is not taken into account,” he added.
By Florence Asamoah Adom