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At the closing ceremony of the 10th Africa Carbon Forum in Nairobi, the UN Environment Program (UNEP) told African governments to embark on the massive development of solar and renewable energy to help combat climate change, following the positive examples that China has set in establishing a development agenda starting from agriculture, moving to other areas and finally settling in renewable energy.
UNEP Executive Director Erik Solheim said on Friday’s meeting that climate change should be viewed as “an opportunity in disguise.”
He also mentioned that climate change can be a chance of resorting to the alternative clean options, adding that solar power’s usage and popularity rose in 2017 above coal and gas-fired power, “the highest ever globally.”
He challenged African governments to liaise with China and India through South-South cooperation to help them exploit solar potentials in the Sahel region and other regions.
Chinese workers from Wuhan Guangsheng Photovoltaic Company work on a solar panel project, in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province, May 15, 2017. /VCG Photo
The UNEP chief noted that renewable energy offers the continent a good opportunity to leapfrog to creating an energy revolution, similar to what happened in the telecommunication sub-sector.
Solheim said that the green energy sector alone is capable of creating additional job opportunities for graduating students if harnessed well.
He told political leaders and environmental experts to start engaging farmers and indigenous communities in playing a pivotal role in helping meet the Paris Agreement on climate change.
David Ongare, director of Compliance and Enforcement at Kenya's National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) called for regional collaboration to help reduce the effects of climate change on the continent.
Ongare stressed the need to put research results into practice, so as to advise communities on adaptation and mitigation of climate change effects.
（CGTN）
