“Wealthier…African countries…show lower climate ambition” – what does Watts think about this?

Article by Eric Worrell

Do you think there might be a connection?

Africa’s Climate Change Balancing Act: Green Energy and Economic Development

Published: 11:50pm (AEDT) on January 17, 2025
Oluwafikayo Akeredolu
PhD student at Oxford University

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I research climate finance and investigate what is driving climate ambition in sub-Saharan Africa. I also wanted to understand whether wealthier sub-Saharan African countries are more likely to prioritize economic development over aggressive climate commitments than poorer countries in the region.

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i found Wealthier sub-Saharan African countries (measured as gross domestic product per capita) Shows lower climate ambition. For example, Nigeria and South Africa are wealthier than many other countries in Africa. But they face political and economic pressure to expand energy supplies and industrial capacity. This could limit their ability to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

It is clear from my research Gross domestic product per capita is the only statistically significant determinant of climate goals One of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This reveals how economic priorities often influence countries’ climate commitments.

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I have some suggestions Based on my findings.

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third, Renewable energy must be promotedparticularly through investments in solar, wind and hydropower. The region's natural resources must be used to help countries transition away from fossil fuels.

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Learn more: https://theconversation.com/africas-climate-change-balancing-act-green-energy-vs-economic-development-244758

Reference papers;

Climate politics and multilateralism in Africa: Domestic factors and cross-national differences in climate ambitions

Akeredolu arrives

| Pages 273-292 Received February 29, 2024, accepted October 3, 2024, published online: October 28, 2024

abstract

This article explores how domestic factors explain differences in the ambition of countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to meet the requirements of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Although Africa accounts for only 3.8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, it is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. All 54 African countries have ratified the Paris Agreement, and by May 2022, 44 African countries had submitted updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), demonstrating a strong commitment to mitigating rising global temperatures. Although the NDCs of sub-Saharan African countries are stronger than the global average, there are still significant differences between countries. This article builds on limited research on these changes and explores whether democracy, GDP, oil consumption and historical emissions influence the NDC ambitions of 44 SSA countries. The analysis found a statistically significant negative relationship between GDP and NDC targets, while other variables were not significant. This research is critical to understanding how domestic factors influence climate commitments in sub-Saharan Africa.

Learn more: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10220461.2024.2413686

What's strange about this article is that, after finding a statistically significant negative relationship between climate ambition and national wealth, the authors' recommendation is to promote green energy and try to increase climate ambition in wealthy countries? Does she want Africa to remain poor?

Of course, a more reasonable conclusion is that “climate ambition” may harm the national economy?

Africa is not the only country showing this correlation. Ambitious climate targets Britain, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada have suffered from energy poverty and economic hardship for years. Yet despite Biden’s presidency, America’s climate ambitions have been lower but its economy is much healthier.

China appears to be at odds with its climate ambitions and economic progress, although some of the damage can be attributed to its “climate ambitions.” Despite its recent efforts on climate change, China, a coal-powered economy, appears to be on the verge of a deep recession. But there are other factors affecting China’s economy, such as China’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Xi Jinping’s incompetent management of China’s energy needs, China’s bellicose and destructive posture on the world stage, China’s Maoist Party’s brutal crackdown on business leaders, Extreme local and local government debt, coupled with the ongoing banking crisis caused by the government's long-term failure to contain the real estate asset bubble, I believe is sufficient to explain China's current economic woes.