By Moses Patience Chat
The Executive Secretary (ES) of the African Energy Chamber (AEC), N.J Ayuk, has urged stakeholders in the global oil and gas sector to make discussions on natural gas a priority for a new global financing pact.
Ayuk said this today at the opening ceremony of the Paris Summit with the theme: ” Building a New Consensus for a More Inclusive International Financial System.”
The Paris Summit is a two-day event organized by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron. It is designed to lay the groundwork for a new financial system suited to the common challenges of the 21st century, such as fighting inequalities and climate change and protecting biodiversity.
The ES of AEC claimed that politicians, banking experts, civil society group leaders, and others who are gathering at the summit are pushing an agenda that appears to be putting financing for African natural gas projects, the presumptive solution to many of the continent’s poverty woes, on the back burner.
Ayuk revealed that the discussions at the event covered four pillars including restoring fiscal space to countries facing short-term difficulties, especially the most indebted countries, fostering private sector development in low-income countries, encouraging investment in “green” infrastructure for the energy transition in emerging and developing countries and mobilizing innovative financing for countries vulnerable to climate change.
His words: ” I fear once again that the global path to net zero runs roughshod over African natural gas projects.”
Ayuk noted that the brainstorming that takes place this week will be doing developing countries, including Africa’s gas-producing nations, a disservice if it focuses solely on green energy financing.
He said that natural gas is a cleaner burning fossil fuel than oil or coal, and it can play a significant role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and that it has a critical role to play in just energy transitions for many developing nations, including those in Africa.
According to him, to truly support developing nations, wealthier nations must accept the reality that natural gas is a cleaner burning fossil fuel than oil or coal and that financing hydrocarbon projects and green energy can go hand-in-hand with monetizing our vast reserves of natural gas can provide the financial wherewithal to help us pay for our logical, sustainable transition to renewables.
He added that the green agenda ignores how important natural gas is to bringing life-changing prosperity to the continent in the form of jobs, business opportunities, capacity building, and electricity and that “this is not a time to turn our backs on gas.”
His words, “we cannot allow the green agenda of other nations to ignore or dismiss our unique needs and priorities. Prioritizing the financing of green projects won’t work for Africa when it leaves resources in the ground that could be used to lift people out of poverty.
” We cannot hope to meet the UN’s sustainable development goals without energy access, and we must exploit oil and natural gas to do that.
“The fact is, African resources offer an avenue toward a greener and more prosperous future, and not just for Africa. This is where the intersection of money and climate represents the best of all worlds.”
