COP27 and climate financing | Commitments from the 2022 Africa Investment Forum| A geothermal green energy revolution

Don’t mortgage countries for loans, development banks tell Africa

Development finance institutions in Africa have cautioned governments against using countries’ natural resources to back infrastructure loans, as it amounts to mortgaging their future to creditors. Instead, they want states to explore public-private partnerships to finance their development projects.

According to the executives of the eight multilateral finance institutions that attended the African Investment Forum, African states need to find cheaper ways of financing development due to the worsening state of the debt resulting from the volatile global economy. The multilateral development banks are working with wealth funds to have them finance infrastructure development.

Source: The EastAfrican

Africa needs justice in climate finance

In Africa, the link between agricultural practices and climate change is real. Eighteen percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. Therefore, our universities need finance to undertake research and development.

African counties need climate justice to conduct sustainable agricultural research to be at par with the west. In Africa, the link between agricultural practices and climate change is real. Eighteen percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. Therefore, our universities need finance to undertake research and development.

Recently, research has intensified on the idea of vertical farming, especially in Copenhagen, as a solution to produce food in harsh environments. According to research, 38 percent of the world’s land area is used for food production, consumes 70 percent of fresh water, and is responsible for 30 percent of greenhouse emissions. One of the benefits of vertical farming is that they constantly recycle water to limit the amount of water spent on agricultural production.

One of the reasons why the nation has yet to adopt the idea of vertical farming is that coming up with the technology for the facilities is very expensive and will require a large sum of financing. Hence, climate financing should be a top priority for governments.

Source: Monitor

East Africa’s geothermal green energy revolution

Kenya is now the world’s seventh-largest producer of geothermal energy and is blazing a trail in the East African region. Together with hydroelectric power, Kenya is in a better position to cope with the effects of climate change.

The country still has huge geothermal opportunities to tap into in the race of the green energy revolution and renewable energy. Japan and other international partners have been working with Kenya to develop geothermal power for decades. Cyrus Karingithi from the Geothermal Resource Development, Kengen, Olkaria, notes that despite Kenya experiencing a lot of droughts, the country has not felt the impact of the drought in three years in terms of power generation because of the geothermal installed in Kenya. He further notes that Kenya has a vast untapped potential, not having tapped more than one percent.

Source: Euronews