At the recent COP28 climate conference, in Dubai, coalition members advocated for greater investment to accelerate development and climate adaptation as the talks saw the first global agreement on the need to transition away from fossil fuels and shift towards renewables and energy efficiency.
Florence Gichoya, Communications Manager of Access Coalition, called this a ‘historic decision’ on the path to achieving net zero by 2050 but said there remain a number of issues to overcome.
Florence said: “The summit revealed that countries are not on track to meet their Paris Agreement goals. The financing for adaptation is decreasing and the Global Stocktake (GST) outcome recognised the significant challenges that developing countries face in accessing finance for implementing their national adaptation plans.
“The world is at the halfway mark towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), yet 600 million people in Africa lack access to electricity and 970 million to clean cooking. Despite the continent having an estimated 40 percent of the world’s renewable energy resources, only US$60 billion, or two percent of US$3 trillion renewable energy investments in the last decade, have come to Africa.
“Increasing financial investment in clean energy will facilitate progress in meeting the energy needs of people and industries. Financing decentralised energy systems is the fastest and most reliable approach to accelerate clean energy access for off grid communities.”
Private finance for clean energy
She also called on Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and the private sector to provide additional investment to drive the energy transition.
“The MDBs and private financial institutions should consider channeling their fossil fuel financing to renewable energy, which is the surest way of increasing energy access in last mile communities and meeting the SDG targets on modern clean energy for all by 2030,” she added.
Brian Omenyi, Coordinator, Sustainable Energy Access Forum Kenya, took part in a Power Up event at COP on the need for smart funding to help sub-Saharan Africa’s energy access pioneers boost off-grid energy access.
He said: “The call to triple renewables and double energy efficiency by 2030 is welcome and this will support countries investment in more sustainable energy sources that are more resilient and adaptable to climate change impacts and promote socio-economic development.”
Opportunities to meet climate targets
Working on the Power Up Kenya campaign, Brian has been campaigning for the Kenyan Government to develop policies that put energy access at the heat of the country’s climate adaptation plans.
Brian added: “Kenya has committed to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2030. The call to triple renewable energy generation creates an opportunity for the country to create investment cases to achieve this target and be on track to contribute towards the achievement of net zero by 2050.
“With a major focus of the Power Up campaign in Kenya being on productive uses of energy in agriculture, the signing of the COP28 Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action will enable Kenya, and other countries, to further prioritise food systems in their Nationally Determined Contributions and build resilience in the face of climate change.”