The twenty-eighth United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) ended with discussions on the correct terms for fossil fuel use in the consensus document. While environmental lobbyists, indigenous groups and activists demanded a complete ‘phase-out’ and were willing to have a ‘phase down’, the negotiation concluded with a debatable term, ‘transition away.’ In an ambiguous and broad term, the consensus mentions ‘transitioning away from all fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner…’. While this responds to the call for official discussions of fossil fuels in the COP meetings, it does not speak to the collective need of the Global South. The discourse on climate change has mostly been about the transition to clean energy to meet the agreements of the Paris Climate Accords; one critical aspect that has been neglected is energy security. One should have expected the Global North to front energy security alongside energy transition in all the last three COP meetings, especially after the shake in the energy market caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), transition should be pursued after a foundation on energy security. Even with the agreement on ‘transitioning away’ from fossil fuels, SSA should exploit available energy options or any resources to allow for funding for energy access, whether the process would be of high emission or not. This course of action would remedy the current failure of climate financing, the Global North’s dissent in phasing out fossil fuel, and the Global South’s need to prioritise energy security as a democratic right and a prerequisite for development. This aligns with research that shows that low access to energy in SSA is a core barrier to economic growth. The backtrack that validates SSA in using all means to pursue energy security is because they need it for economic growth, are the least emitters, and can sequester all of their anthropogenic emissions, even after further exploitation of fossil fuels and other extractive resources.

In an ideal setting, the Global North would have been expected to take direct actions in transitioning to renewable energy and phasing out fossil fuels. After discussing the need to cut dependence on fossil fuels, the United States held the largest offshore oil and gas lease in US history just a week after COP26. The United Kingdom continued its North Sea oil and gas exploration and development deals, issuing over fifty licences before and after COP28. This is in addition to China and India refusing to sign the Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge at the same conference. It creates a perception of the Global North and other high-emitting countries banking on the climate overshoot while the Global South is trying to minimise its impact.   It is insulting to the minor emitters when the historical big emitters rump up their fossil fuel dependence with the expectation of somehow offsetting them or building technologies and other systems that would later result in net zero emission come the set period. The disparity between the rhetoric pledges to adopt renewable energy and the expanding reliance on fossil fuels should be a green light for SSA to use any means possible to meet its energy security goals. 

While one of the critical reasons for setting up the climate finance mechanisms was to fund the transformation of energy systems, the current structures and provisions do not fully serve the energy needs of the Global South. As of 2022, the Climate Policy Initiative estimated that Africa needed $277 billion annually for each country to meet its National Determined Contributions (NDCs). However, it only had a tenth of that estimate flowing into the continent. The energy sector received up to three-quarters of the funding flow, but more is needed to meet the demand. Additionally, the funding mechanisms are primarily in the form of loans, setting up the countries already in debt traps. Given the expensive cost of renewables, it is unrealistic to expect countries with weaker financial capacity to transition and be energy secure.

The dependence on climate financing should be a secondary attribute to energy security. With specialised approaches, most of the middle-income economies in Africa can finance their energy infrastructure development. The construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) through internal fundraising is an example of successful self-reliance in energy infrastructure. While the development of the GERD project brought up new conflicts due to the neighbouring countries’ extended reliance on the Blue Nile, the project is an eye-opener to the capacity of nationalism in economic development in Africa.

A more extended approach to financing would be taking advantage of regional cooperation on the continent. A unified approach and implementation of the Africa Single Electricity Market would be more reliable than national funding. Based on the resources available in the different countries, there are several energy opportunities, most of which are renewable. Fossil fuels would be a supplementary energy source. South Africa’s involvement in developing the  Inga dams in Congo would ease energy insecurity in parts of the Southern and Central African regions. Expanding the Olkaria geothermal and the Lake Turkana wind projects would supplement Kenya’s grid and service neighbouring countries. The Nachtigal Power project in Cameroon and the Kpone plant in Ghana are potentially significant sources. The demand will be supplemented with decentralised micro-grids tested in Kenya.

With the exclusion of South Africa, SSA emits less than 2% of global greenhouse emissions. Amidst that, SSA carries some of the most potent carbon sinks in the world. Congo basin alone absorbs close to 4% of the global CO2 emission. The distributed wetlands, marine ecosystems, natural forests, and diverse ecosystems are active carbon sinks that would support Africa’s offsetting capacity. It is also important to note that SSA citizens live a less emitting lifestyle than their Northern counterparts.While the global goal is to reduce emissions and reach a net-zero CO2 emission within the set schedule, it is essential that Africa pursues energy security through its renewable options, but not to the extent of completely ignoring the non-renewables to avoid emissions.  The Global North needs to reduce its emissions significantly and transition faster, while the Global South gets a chance to advance its energy security as a development need.