Taiwo Hassan 
With the United States’ government boycotting participation in COP 30 currently holding in Belem, Brazil, the Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber, NJ Ayuk, has said it is time African countries with crude oil, natural gas, and other hydrocarbons develop their resources to cover the cost of energy transition.
Ayuk, who spoke on the topic: “Broken Promises by Wealthy Nations: Africa Needs to Finance its Energy Addition then Transition,” explained that they should also seek to meet several other complementary goals.
He identified the goals as “Minimising emissions: It is possible to reduce the carbon emissions intensity of oil and gas development, as Eni is doing offshore Côte d’Ivoire.
The Italian major started production at Baleine, which is Africa’s first Scope-1 and -2 emissions-free project, in August of this year.
Its example can and should be emulated. “Domestic gas and power development: African states that possess natural gas should seek to promote the formation of domestic gas markets and infrastructure, either by reserving a portion of their hydrocarbon revenues for this purpose or by enlisting the help of their foreign partners.
“They need to build gas-fired plants that can provide cleaner power than existing coal- and petroleum product-burning plants; liquid petroleum gas (LPG) plants that can replace traditional biomass fuels such as wood and charcoal, which contribute to health problems and deforestation; and compressed natural gas (CNG) plants that can produce fuel for vehicles.
“They must establish additional pipelines, fuel distribution networks, and electricity lines to ensure that both rural and urban consumers can access these new resources and escape energy poverty.
As they do so, they will establish the transmission and distribution infrastructure needed for renewable energy facilities. (They will also be building pipelines that can carry hydrogen, or a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen.).
“Invest in local capacity: African oil and gas producers should also seek to maximize their own capacities as they develop their own subsurface resources.
“The development process should focus on training for local workers, technology transfers, and investment in related sectors of the economy — including those that can add value to the natural resources themselves, such as refining and petrochemicals.
“In taking these steps, African oil and gas producers will be spending their money wisely. They’ll be investing in the future, using what they earn to build a base for something bigger and better.”
According to him, “at ADIPEC this year, I was skeptical about participating in COP 30. African nations are heading to Brazil for COP 30 in Belem.
The United States, under President Donald Trump, has closed its office of climate diplomacy and will not be sending any representatives to the event.
“The US is focused on energy additions and Drill Baby Drill. They are financing their energy agenda and setting the country towards an era of energy dominance. They are not waiting for climate finance.
“From an African perspective, one of the most important things to come out of COP15, the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, was the formal recognition of the fact that lower-income countries were not in a position to bear as much of the cost of the energy transition as their higherincome counterparts.
“That recognition was spelled out in the section of the Copenhagen Accord that included a pledge from the world’s highly developed states to provide the developing world with at least $30 billion a year in financing for energy transition and climate change mitigation projects.
Under the accord, funding was supposed to remain at that level for three years and then start rising, reaching $100 billion per year by 2020.”
“This sounds wonderful, right? Sure, the Copenhagen Accord wasn’t a binding promise, but it did set up a durable framework for future talks.
If nothing else, it served to establish $100 billion per year as the long-term target the UN would keep trying to hit after 2009 with respect to mobilizing climate financing for lower-income countries.
Nevertheless, the developed world missed that target,” he added. On Too Little, Too Late, he stated: “And the UN — quite rightly — criticized it for that. I’ll quote the organization’s own webpage, using words that appear to have been published in mid-2023:
“So far, the $100 billion goal has not been reached … and the distribution of funds has not been equitable.
In 2020, based on the latest OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) data, developed countries provided $83.3 billion. Only 8 per cent of the total went to low-income countries and about a quarter to Africa.”
