Fossil Fuels Fail Africa — The Case for a Just Transition on the Continent
A new infographic reveals how fossil-fueled development bypasses African communities, but also illustrates the continent’s potential for a just transition. As Africa holds 39 percent of global renewable energy potential, governments and banks must shift their climate finance commitments towards a renewable just transition in Africa.
Published by Oil Change International.
September 2023
Last week, over a dozen African leaders gathered together at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi to discuss the continent’s unified position on the climate crisis ahead of COP28 in Dubai. Before the Summit, 500 + African civil society demanded an end to all dirty energy in Africa, and they also expressed their worry about how the Summit had been captured by the interests of Global North governments and corporations instead of focusing on African priorities like a just and equitable transition to renewables.
Leaders released the Nairobi Declaration at the end of the Summit, which called for a phase-out of only coal with no mention of oil or gas. The Declaration also insisted that Africa has a chance to be part of the solution with its renewable energy potential. However, at the same time, African countries are still being used as extraction hubs for gas and other fossils that harm their communities and are exported to the Global North.
Following the Summit and as millions of people around the world are expected to take to the streets this weekend as a part of the over 400+ actions associated with the Global Fight to End Fossil Fuels, we are releasing this infographic/comic titled “Fossil Fuels Fail Africa”. African civil society has been demanding a fast, fair and well financed phase-out of ALL fossil fuels on the continent, not just coal.
The infographic tells the story of why Africa – the continent suffering the worst of the climate crisis but having the highest renewable energy potential – is ready to leapfrog towards a renewable future without being locked into further fossil infrastructure or impacts on communities.
