Of its 54 countries, only South Africa has set a net-zero aim - and failure to revamp policies to benefit from a global low-carbon shift may mean Africa misses out on investment, said Wendy Hughes, a carbon markets manager at the World Bank Group.
Of its 54 countries, only South Africa has set a net-zero aim - and failure to revamp policies to benefit from a global low-carbon shift may mean Africa misses out on investmentGlobally, a growing flood of countries, cities and regions from China to the European Union have set zero-carbon emissions targets over the last year or two, said Helen Mountford, vice president for climate and economics at the Washington-based World Resources Institute.
“We don’t think about net zero. We think about how we maintain our net-positive contribution to climate change,” he said. “We’re not looking for a handout. These are good investments,” he said. For him, such finance is “a much better way forward” than seeking help from the Green Climate Fund, which gives loans and grants for developing countries to grow cleanly and adapt to climate change impacts.Ogunbiyi, of Sustainable Energy for All, said the lack of clean energy investment in countries like Gabon – with good low-carbon policies in place and political stability – was worrying.
Many African nations are interested in low-carbon growth – but few have received anywhere near enough finance to make it a reality, added Anthony Nyong, the director of climate change and green growth for the African Development Bank.