By: Stephen Ahereza
Worth Noting:
- Africa still faces huge challenges including low generation capacity and efficiency, high costs, unstable and unreliable energy supplies, and low access rate. This has led to increased poverty, school dropouts, early marriages, GBV among others.
- It notes that “more than 600 million people are left without access to electricity while more than 80% of the Sub-Saharan African population lacks access to clean cooking technologies hence resorting to deforestation for charcoal and firewood.
- However, some of the grievances can be addressed by Energy transition, transiting away from fossil fuels to renewable energy. . The long-term utilization of fossil fuels is not an energy transition.
Globally, energy is one of the key drivers of economic growth and development. It’s important to note that overcoming energy poverty is one of world’s great challenges where most countries in the East African Region (EAR) are not producing sufficient energy to meet their current needs. It’s hard for a country to achieve her socio-economic development without its population having access to clean energy.
Furthermore, we have already witnessed the challenges caused by the fossil fuels since the discovery of oil in 2006. It’s clear that fossil fuels are the main driver of climate change, and climate change has been the largest driver of biodiversity loss worldwide. Its clear to note that fossil fuel industry and its products contribute for over 90% of global industrial emissions and around 70% of all human emissions in 2015, the year the Paris Agreement was signed.
Africa still faces huge challenges including low generation capacity and efficiency, high costs, unstable and unreliable energy supplies, and low access rate. This has led to increased poverty, school dropouts, early marriages, GBV among others. It notes that “more than 600 million people are left without access to electricity while more than 80% of the Sub-Saharan African population lack access to clean cooking technologies hence resorting to deforestation for charcoal and firewood.
Furthermore, the expansion of fossil fuel increases the vulnerability of African populations to both climate-related and direct impacts from the fossil fuel industry, breaching African states’ obligations to protect human and environmental rights according to article 26 of the 1995 constitution.
Majorly, in Uganda and Tanzania, The East African Crude Oil Pipeline project has displaced at least 118,348 persons (56,460 in Uganda and 61,889 in Tanzania). However, challenges relating to land acquisition due to contestations of valuations by the project-affected persons-PAPs still remain eminent, human rights violation, land grabbing, climate change, loss biodiversity , limited access to clean water , food insecurity, unemployment among others still stands.
It’s very unfortunate that amidst the above mentioned challenges faced by oil affected communities, the Government of Uganda continued to approve EACOP construction licence that will cost Ugandans $4b (Shs13trillion) amidst the energy poverty Ugandans are facing and yet there are many potential in renewable energy that can lead to social economic development of our country. In my opinion Uganda is not yet ready to start the oil exploitation since most of the grievances faced by the PAPs and environment are still not being heard. https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/govt-approves-eacop-construction-licence-4090004.
However, some of the grievances can be addressed by Energy transition, transiting away from fossil fuels to renewable energy. The long-term utilization of fossil fuels is not an energy transition. For Africa to be ready for oil exploitation, there is need for a rapid energy transition away from fossil fuels to cleaner, cheaper, lower-emissions, renewable energy sources. Globally, renewable energy offers the technical potential to produce more than 100 times the world’s energy needs by 2050.
It’s therefore, very unfortunate for Uganda to approve the EACOP and yet 78.6% of its population still use firewood, 5.6% using charcoal and 4.7% use crop residues and this has increased on the carbon gas emissions hence limiting the goals to achieve 1.5 degrees according to Paris agreement.
More so, Expansion of fossil fuel production in Africa and the associated emissions will /has accelerated the degradation of Africa’s natural systems and undermine international targets relating to biodiversity. Goal seven (07) of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”. However, the 2021 SDG report indicates that 759 million people in the world, of which 75% in Sub-Sahara Africa, lacked access to energy. The report further indicates that a third of the world’s population depends on dangerous and inefficient cooking systems. As well as adverse climate impacts, vulnerable people “also suffer the direct human rights harms of fossil fuel extraction, production and its related infrastructure in their local communities such as contamination of local water and food supplies, air pollution, biodiversity loss, forced evictions and other human rights abuses, violating environmental and human obligations to protect nature and human rights.
In addition, analysis by UNEP demonstrates how oil extraction has contaminated soil and water bodies in the Niger Delta, and led to health crises including a rise in cancers, birth defects, breathing difficulties, and contributed to the brevity of life in the oil field communities which stands at 40 years. Furthermore, In Eastern Africa, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline has also undermined human rights, causing over 12,000 families to lose land, and endangering sensitive and vital ecosystems.
Therefore, in my opinion, I call for an end to fossil-fuel-induced energy apartheid in Africa which has left 600 million Africans without access to modern clean renewable energy, Scaling up cost-effective, clean, decentralized, renewable energy as the fastest and best way to end energy exclusion and meet the needs of Africa’s people.
More so, there should be an immediate suspension of drilling oil activities in the protected and sensitive ecosystem (Murchison Falls National Park) and the postponement of the EACOP project for at least one year to allow a feasibility study of an alternative path to preserve the environment hence Providing universal energy access that is necessary to end poverty and empower women and generate opportunities across Africa.
I also call for a transformative, people-led process involving rapid social, economic and political change to achieve energy democracy and deliver renewable energy assets into the hands of people and communities across the continent.
In nutshell, the governments should serve the interests of the people, not corporate fossil fuel polluters.
DON’T GAS AFRICA.
For God and my country
Stephen Ahereza
Research Associate Women for Green Economy Movement Uganda.
