<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="728" height="509" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ACFTUDROEBJG5DDI36RYFJFZGI-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-420316" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ACFTUDROEBJG5DDI36RYFJFZGI-1.jpg 728w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ACFTUDROEBJG5DDI36RYFJFZGI-1-300x210.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ACFTUDROEBJG5DDI36RYFJFZGI-1-129x90.jpg 129w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px" /><figcaption>Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy- African Union Commission Amani Abou-Zeid speaks at the Africa Oil Week 2022 conference at the Cape Town International Convention Centre 2, Cape Town, South Africa, October 4, 2022. REUTERS/Shelley Christian</figcaption></figure>



CAPE TOWN, Oct 4 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;African countries will use the COP27 climate talks in Egypt next month to advocate for a common energy position that recognises fossil fuels are necessary in the short term to expand economies and electricity access, the continent’s top energy official said on Tuesday.



The African position, criticised by environmental groups, could overshadow global climate talks in Sharm El-Sheikh seeking to build on the previous Glasgow summit and make good on financing targets by rich nations to poorer countries that have fallen far short of the promised $100 billion a year by 2020.



&#8220;We recognize that some countries may have to use fossil fuels for now, but it’s not one solution fits all,&#8221; said Amani Abou-Zeid, the African Union (AU) Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy.



&#8220;It is not time to exclude, but it is the time to tailor solutions for a context, for a country and we cannot treat a city like a village because we have to tailor our sources of energy,&#8221; she told Reuters on the sidelines of an oil and gas conference.



An AU technical study attended by 45 African countries on 16 June seen by Reuters outlined that oil and coal will play a &#8220;crucial role&#8221; in expanding modern energy access over the short to medium term.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-lack-of-funding-in-focus-as-congo-hosts-pre-cop27-climate-talks">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/lack-of-funding-in-focus-as-congo-hosts-pre-cop27-climate-talks/">Lack of funding in focus as Congo hosts pre-COP27 climate talks</a></h3>



In tandem with renewable sources, Africa also sees key roles for natural gas and nuclear energy while the continent focuses on new technology and decarbonisation measures to reduce harmful emissions from its fossil fuels industry.



&#8220;Our ambition is to have fast-growing economies, competitive and industrialised,&#8221; Abou-Zeid said.



Seen as a global renewable hub given its vast solar, wind and hydrogen potential, Africa also has around 600 million people in its sub-Sahara region living without electricity and almost 1 billion citizens without access to clean energy for cooking.



&#8220;As far as we are concerned, the first obligation we have as governments is to our people and to bring them out of energy poverty and poverty in general and to do this you need energy. There is no way you can develop any economy, any society without energy,&#8221; said Omar Farouk Ibrahim, secretary general of the African Petroleum Producers&#8217; Organisation.



&#8220;We are talking about coal, we are talking oil and we are talking about gas. At this time we are not discriminating,&#8221; he told Reuters.



(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

ACFTUDROEBJG5DDI36RYFJFZGI-1

African countries to push common energy position at COP27

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="429" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/KB5CW7IVQZNELP32JLJSIRY7TQ-820x429.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-420291" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/KB5CW7IVQZNELP32JLJSIRY7TQ-820x429.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/KB5CW7IVQZNELP32JLJSIRY7TQ-300x157.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/KB5CW7IVQZNELP32JLJSIRY7TQ-160x84.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/KB5CW7IVQZNELP32JLJSIRY7TQ-768x402.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/KB5CW7IVQZNELP32JLJSIRY7TQ.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Eve Bazaiba, Deputy Prime Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development of Democratic Republic of Congo poses Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General of the UN, during a informal ministerial meeting ahead of COP27 climate summit in Kinshassa, Democratic Republic of Congo October 03, 2022. REUTERS/Justin Makangara</figcaption></figure>



KINSHASA, Oct 3 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;High-level speakers at climate talks in Kinshasa called out rich nations on Monday for failing to honour a $100 billion per year funding pledge to developing countries, warning that fair finance was needed to avert the worst of the climate crisis.



Dozens of ministers and senior delegates are in Democratic Republic of Congo this week for a final meeting before the COP27 climate summit in November, where more vulnerable countries hope to push for compensation for economic losses linked to climate catastrophes.



&#8220;The finance currently available is a pittance with respect to the magnitude of disasters vulnerable nations and people are facing and will face,&#8221; U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said at the start of the three-day event.



Egypt, which is hosting COP27, is working on how to include this kind of compensation for so-called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N30Z2E9&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">loss and damage</a>&nbsp;on the formal agenda &#8211; a task complicated by industrialized nations&#8217; wariness of the liabilities they may face.



Mohammed and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry also highlighted the failure to deliver on an existing $100 billion per-year pledge to developing countries, which has only ever been partially met and is due to expire in 2025.



Mohammed also criticised an over 50% shortfall in the $356 million pledged to a climate adaptation fund at COP26 last year.



The pre-summit is meant to be a forum for countries to shape the agenda for negotiations in Egypt and improve the chance of progress.



Welcoming delegates, Congo&#8217;s Environment Minister Eve Bazaiba said she was concerned that countries&#8217; ongoing failure to fulfil commitments had become a matter of course.



Earlier Bazaiba told Reuters the focus of talks would be how the richest and most industrialised nations should take financial responsibility for their role in the climate crisis.



&#8220;The G20 is responsible for 80% of the pollution in the world,&#8221; she said in an interview on Saturday. &#8220;The real debate of this pre-COP and COP27 is the responsibility of the polluting countries.&#8221;



Around a dozen young activists protesting outside the venue called on Congolese authorities to cancel plans to drill for oil and gas in its share of the world&#8217;s second-biggest rainforest and in peatlands that store billions of tonnes of carbon.



&#8220;We cannot sacrifice them at the altar of fossil fuel,&#8221; said activist Bonaventure Bondo.



Congo, like other African nations, has insisted on its right to develop its economy by exploiting its vast natural resources, pledging to minimise the potentially devastating&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2Z90XT&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">environmental impact</a>&nbsp;by using modern drilling methods and tight regulation.



U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is due to meet Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi on Tuesday. The two countries have set up a working group to help protect Congo&#8217;s rainforests and peatlands.



(Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

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Lack of funding in focus as Congo hosts pre-COP27 climate talks

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="530" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Z4RSHE5NTZNS3FX5CFGWG5RLBA-820x530.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-419942" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Z4RSHE5NTZNS3FX5CFGWG5RLBA-820x530.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Z4RSHE5NTZNS3FX5CFGWG5RLBA-300x194.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Z4RSHE5NTZNS3FX5CFGWG5RLBA-139x90.jpg 139w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Z4RSHE5NTZNS3FX5CFGWG5RLBA-768x496.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Z4RSHE5NTZNS3FX5CFGWG5RLBA.jpg 1080w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>A truck drives past a conveyor pouring coal produced at Canyon Coal&#8217;s Khanye colliery near Bronkhorstspruit, around 90 kilometres north-east of Johannesburg, South Africa, April 26, 2022. Picture taken April 26,2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



DAR ES SALAAM, Sept 20 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The sleepy Tanzanian port of Mtwara mainly dealt in cashew nuts until late last year. Now it bustles with vessels loading up with coal, as Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine drives a worldwide race for the polluting fuel.



Tanzania traditionally exports thermal coal only to neighbouring countries in east Africa; sending it further afield was out of the question, as it required trucking the material more than 600 km from mines in its southwest to Mtwara, the nearest Indian Ocean port.



Europe&#8217;s crippling energy crisis has changed all that.



Prices for thermal coal, used to generate electricity, have leapt to record levels as a result of the war, which has led to many European countries losing access to vital supplies of natural gas and coal from their top provider Russia.



Buyers in Europe and beyond are now vying to pay top dollar for coal from often remote mines in places such as Tanzania, Botswana and even potentially Madagascar. The resurgent coal demand, driven by governments trying to wean themselves off Russian energy while keeping a lid on power prices, clashes with climate plans to shift away from the most polluting fossil fuel.



&#8220;European players, after the Russian war, are going to any place where there is coal,&#8221; Rizwan Ahmed, managing director of coal miner Bluesky Minings said in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. &#8220;They are offering to pay very good prices.&#8221;



Commodities trader Cargill has seen a marked rise in coal shipments into Europe in recent months, said Jan Dieleman, president of Cargill&#8217;s ocean transportation division, with the company transporting 9 million tonnes of coal globally in the June-August period compared with 7 million a year earlier.



&#8220;Europe is competing with other buyers and the alternative is more expensive, which is gas,&#8221; said Dieleman. &#8220;Europe should be able to source coal and we will see very strong flows into Europe from Colombia, South Africa and even further away.&#8221;



Even though the window of opportunity may be short should the geopolitical winds shift, some countries with coal resources see the margins to be gained as too good a chance to miss.



Front-month physical thermal coal at Australia&#8217;s Newcastle port&nbsp;GCLNWCPFBMc2&nbsp;&#8211; a global benchmark &#8211; was trading at $429 a tonne on Sept. 16, just below an all-time high of $483.50 in March and up from around $176/tonne this time last year.



Mtwara has seen 13 vessels load up with coal since November last year when it launched its first-ever coal shipment, according to a port official; the latest, the MV Miss Simona, a bulk carrier with 34,529-tonne capacity, docked last week, loaded up and sailed off to France.



Since the end of June, 57 cargo orders &#8211; requests for available vessels &#8211; to ship Tanzanian coal have been seen on the spot freight market compared with just two in the same period last year, according to analysis from maritime and commodities data platform Shipfix.



Global seaborne thermal coal imports reached 97.8 million tonnes in July, the highest level on record and up more than 9% year-on-year, an analysis from ship broker Braemar shows. The volume dropped to 89 million tonnes in August, largely due to export disruptions from major producer Australia.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-last-hurrah-for-coal">A LAST HURRAH FOR COAL?</h2>



Tanzania expects coal exports to double this year to around 696,773 tonnes, the country&#8217;s Mining Commission told Reuters, while production is expected to increase by 50% to about 1,364,707 tonnes.



Targeting sizeable tax revenues from this jump in exports, the government is considering building a railway that would link the coal-producing Ruvuma region to Mtwara, said Yahya Semamba, acting executive secretary of the Mining Commission, a government body.



Tanzania-based miner Ruvuma Coal has already exported at least 400,000 tonnes of coal via a trader to countries including the Netherlands, France and India since November, according to trade data reviewed by Reuters.



Ruvuma Coal declined to comment for this story.



Coal miners are enjoying unprecedented profit margins in what some see as a last hurrah for an industry facing intense pressure to cut production; with coal at $75 a tonne in late 2020, a coal mine might earn a cash margin of $15/tonne, said Rob West, analyst at consultancy Thunder Said Energy. But as prices hit $400/tonne, the cash margin increased to $235/tonne.



Indeed traders in Europe are willing to pay twice the price quoted by Asian buyers, according to some mine executives such as Bluesky&#8217;s Ahmed, who said his company didn&#8217;t currently export through Mtwara, but planned to do so, and had received requests from buyers in Germany, Poland and Britain.



Similarly, in landlocked Botswana, selling coal on the seaborne market used to be unthinkable, with most exports going to neighbouring South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe.



&#8220;Earlier, the logistics would kill us. However, at current prices, we can make this thing work,&#8221; said Morné du Plessis, CEO of Botswana-based coal miner Minergy&nbsp;MIN.BT.



Minergy has exported two shipments of around 30,000 tonnes each from Namibia&#8217;s Walvis Bay port, and sent two trains of coal to be exported from Mozambique&#8217;s Maputo port.



The island nation of Madagascar, the world&#8217;s top exporter of vanilla, could become another newbie on the global coal scene.



&#8220;The current prices comfortably support a business case for coal miners in Madagascar to start exporting coal for the first time in the country&#8217;s history,&#8221; said Prince Nyati, CEO of one of the companies developing a coal project in the country.



However, new entrants will have to ready themselves to pull back or even cease production if the market conditions become unfavourable, Nyati added.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-coal-has-been-embraced">&#8216;COAL HAS BEEN EMBRACED&#8217;</h2>



High demand and tight supplies of coal have redrawn trade routes, driving up global &#8220;deadweight tonne days&#8221; for the fossil fuel to record heights in July, according to Braemar research, referring to a measure of shipping levels in terms of fleet usage and the length of voyages.



Thermal coal imports by the European Union from Australia, South Africa and Indonesia &#8211; which have traditionally supplied Asian markets &#8211; rose more than 11-fold in the four months after Russia invaded Ukraine, data from Indian consultancy Coalmint showed.



The invasion has forced EU nations to move to cut reliance on gas from Russia, which has reduced its vast supplies to the region. The bloc&#8217;s ban on Russian coal imports has further increased pressure on electricity generators to find alternative sources of the fuel.



Russia usually provides about 70% of the EU&#8217;s thermal coal, according to the Brussels-based think-tank Bruegel, while it typically supplies 40% of the bloc&#8217;s natural gas.



European countries have temporarily set aside environmental goals as they seek to stockpile the fuel and reopen mothballed coal plants to prepare for what could be a difficult winter.



&#8220;Strong incentives have pushed coal and lignite generation 25% above year-ago levels, despite a whole host of plant closures over the past three years,&#8221; analysts at Bank of America said about Europe.



The current ramp-up in thermal coal combustion could put countries on a collision course with ambitious CO2 emissions reduction goals; in the EU, burning more coal will increase CO2 emissions by 1.3% a year if Russian gas supplies are completely halted, according to energy think-tank Ember.



Governments in Europe say this is a temporary change, although that could depend on how long the energy crisis drags on. Germany is delaying planned shutdowns of some coal plants in order to ensure security of power supply.



Minergy, the Botswana coal miner, sees the coal market remaining strong until at least mid-2023, if not longer. It hopes to double its production capacity.



&#8220;The negative narrative surrounding coal has been abandoned, and coal has been embraced as the go-to energy source in the energy crises arising from the war,&#8221; the company said.



FACTBOX-Europe ramps up coal imports as energy supply fears grow<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2Z15LQ&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



ANALYSIS-Russian gas crisis stokes Europe&#8217;s appetite for Russian coal<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2UC3E9&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



German coal importers expect flurry of shipments from September<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2ZL49R&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



COLUMN-Asia imports of thermal coal, LNG hold up despite record prices: Russell<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2YT080&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Colombia curbs thermal coal exports to Asia as EU demand surges<a href="https://tmsnrt.rs/3TZNi4x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://tmsnrt.rs/3TZNi4x</a>



Australia&#8217;s thermal coal exports to Europe jump<a href="https://tmsnrt.rs/3U1Yei8">https://tmsnrt.rs/3U1Yei8</a>



South Africa&#8217;s thermal coal exports<a href="https://tmsnrt.rs/3Did1iT">https://tmsnrt.rs/3Did1iT</a>



Global seaborne coal imports hit a record high in July<a href="https://tmsnrt.rs/3DDBUW6">https://tmsnrt.rs/3DDBUW6</a>



(Reporting by Nuzulack Dausen in Dar Es Salaam, Sudarshan Varadhan in New Delhi, Helen Reid in Johannesburg, Jonathan Saul and Nina Chestney in London; Editing by Veronica Brown and Pravin Char)

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Coal rush! Energy crisis fires global hunt for polluting fuel

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="615" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ZMBXKGZVWJLEPJFMOIXNORIWGM-820x615.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-419903" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ZMBXKGZVWJLEPJFMOIXNORIWGM-820x615.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ZMBXKGZVWJLEPJFMOIXNORIWGM-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ZMBXKGZVWJLEPJFMOIXNORIWGM-120x90.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ZMBXKGZVWJLEPJFMOIXNORIWGM-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ZMBXKGZVWJLEPJFMOIXNORIWGM-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ZMBXKGZVWJLEPJFMOIXNORIWGM-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>U.S. climate envoy John Kerry speaks during an interview with a Reuters journalist in Dakar, Senegal September 15, 2022. REUTERS/Christophe Van Der Perre</figcaption></figure>



DAKAR, Sept 16 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;U.S. climate envoy John Kerry cautioned against investing in long-term gas projects in Africa as countries in the region, some hoping to tap recent oil and gas discoveries, wrestle with how to power their development with clean energy.



&#8220;We are not saying no gas,&#8221; Kerry told Reuters on the sidelines of an African environment ministers&#8217; conference in Dakar, Senegal, on Thursday.



&#8220;What we are saying is, over the next few years, gas replaces coal or replaces oil,&#8221; the former secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate said, adding that gas can be used as a transition to cleaner energy sources.



But after 2030, it will be important to capture the emissions from gas too, Kerry added.



Continued financing of oil and gas projects in Africa has become a key issue for the countries, which they plan to push during a United Nations climate summit in Egypt in November.



Senegal and other countries in the region aim to start producing oil and gas, which they hope will help boost their electricity production, power industries and curb energy poverty.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N30837Y&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a><a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N3093YL&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a><a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2Z90XT&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Over 600 million people, or 43% of Africa&#8217;s population, lack access to electricity, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the International Energy Agency.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-africa-losing-up-to-15-of-gdp-growth-to-climate-change-afdb">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/africa-losing-up-to-15-of-gdp-growth-to-climate-change-afdb/">Africa losing up to 15% of GDP growth to climate change – AfDB</a></h3>



African countries argue that they need investments to develop their energy resources, including oil and gas, and a pledge by developed nations including the United States last year to curb investments in fossil fuels, was unjust.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2SK0WV&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Kerry said the question now is how to help the nations, which account for only a small amount of carbon emissions, develop without making mistakes that others made, enabling them to be as green as possible without creating more problems.



He said the viability of long-term gas projects could become a problem beyond 2030, the target date many developed nations have set to move to mostly renewable and curb the need for gas.



Kerry said such long-term projects likely would not recoup their investments within 10 years, adding that some countries are talking of projects with lifespan as long as 40 years, which was not necessary.



&#8220;We do not have to rush to go backward, we need to be very careful about exactly how much we are going to deploy, how it is going to be paid for, over what period of time and how do you capture the emissions.&#8221; Kerry said.



He said developed nations need to step up efforts and meet the urgency to help other countries adapt and get over the initial hurdles of developing renewable energy systems.



Kerry said the United States has committed $12 billion for &#8220;adaptation and resilience,&#8221; and was working on a new structure to bring more the big investors with trillions of dollars.



(Reporting by Bate Felix; Editing by William Mallard)

US climate envoy Kerry cautions against long-term gas projects in Africa

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="536" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GW5TJQQC7JKYFM3DDSGK3DS4FA-820x536.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-419796" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GW5TJQQC7JKYFM3DDSGK3DS4FA-820x536.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GW5TJQQC7JKYFM3DDSGK3DS4FA-300x196.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GW5TJQQC7JKYFM3DDSGK3DS4FA-138x90.jpg 138w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GW5TJQQC7JKYFM3DDSGK3DS4FA-768x502.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GW5TJQQC7JKYFM3DDSGK3DS4FA.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Dhicis Guray, an internally displaced Somali man, attends to the carcass of his dead livestock following severe droughts near Dollow, Gedo Region, Somalia May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Feisal Omar</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Sept 13 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Africa is losing 5% to 15% of its per capita economic growth due the effects of climate change and is facing a gaping climate finance shortfall, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB).



Africa has been hit disproportionately hard by the fallout from climate change, which has aggravated droughts, flooding and cyclones across the continent in recent years.



African nations received around $18.3 billion in climate finance between 2016 and 2019, Kevin Urama, the AfDB&#8217;s acting chief economist, said in a statement released on Tuesday.



But they are staring down a nearly $1.3 trillion climate finance gap for the 2020 to 2030 period.



&#8220;These sums reflect how the crisis is,&#8221; Urama said. &#8220;Investing in climate adaptation in the context of sustainable development is the best way to cope with the climate change impacts.&#8221;



Rich nations promised in 2009 to deliver $100 billion in climate financing to the developing world. But that pledge has only ever been partially met and is due to expire in 2025.



African ministers meeting in Cairo last week ahead of November&#8217;s COP27 climate summit decried the lack of support which they said had resulted in the continent benefiting from less than 5.5% of global climate financing.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N30G4LV&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



(Reporting by Joe Bavier, editing by Ed Osmond)

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Africa losing up to 15% of GDP growth to climate change – AfDB

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/dry-dehydration-drought-rip-crack-earth-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-418561" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/dry-dehydration-drought-rip-crack-earth-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/dry-dehydration-drought-rip-crack-earth-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/dry-dehydration-drought-rip-crack-earth-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/dry-dehydration-drought-rip-crack-earth-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/dry-dehydration-drought-rip-crack-earth.jpg 910w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Photo: via pxfuel</figcaption></figure>



DAKAR, Sept 8 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;With soaring heat, rising seas, droughts and floods, climate change fallout is disproportionately affecting Africa, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday, calling for more financing to help countries adapt.



Africa accounts for just 2-3% of the world&#8217;s greenhouse gas emissions, but overall the continent is warming faster than the global average and last year was one of the top four hottest on record, the WMO said in its report &#8216;State of the Climate in Africa 2021.&#8217;



It comes as Africa demands richer, polluting nations stump up more money for adaptation projects on the continent and compensation for climate change-linked losses — topics that are expected to be in focus at COP27, the November U.N. climate summit in Egypt dubbed &#8216;the African COP.&#8217;



<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N30C191&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a><a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N2ZG2OW&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



The WMO said the need for more investment in climate adaptation was crucial, estimating that climate impacts could cost African nations $50 billion per year by 2030, with droughts and floods the top concern.



Some parts of Africa are seeing seas rise 1 millimetre faster per year than the global average, worsening the threat of severe coastal flooding.



The report also highlighted increasingly disrupted rain patterns that have led to the worst drought in the Horn of Africa in more than 40 years and devastating floods that are hitting other parts of the continent more and more often.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N30226N&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



South Sudan recorded its worst floods in 60 years last year with over 800,000 people affected, while Chad this year saw its most rainfall in over 30 years as it and many other countries in central and western Africa battled seasonal floods.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2WD08T&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a><a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N30C3LJ&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Scientists say extreme heat and heavy rainfall have been made worse by human-caused climate change and will only increase in severity and frequency as the world continues to warm.



To improve African countries&#8217; resilience, &#8220;it is imperative for the continent to accelerate efforts to establish robust regional and national early warning systems and climate services,&#8221; WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said.



The report provides a stark forecast of the climate-linked crises threatening Africa.



Four out of five African countries are unlikely to have sustainably managed water resources in seven years&#8217; time and water stress alone is seen displacing up to 700 million people in the same period, it said.



Meanwhile, rising temperatures have helped reduce growth in agricultural productivity by over a third since 1961 — more than any other region in the world. &#8220;This trend is expected to continue in the future, increasing the risk of acute food insecurity and malnutrition,&#8221; it said.



Already, parts of Somalia are expected to be hit by famine later this year as the Horn of Africa drought worsens, the United Nations warned on Monday.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N30C0HS&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Despite these challenges, Africa is receiving just 12% of the finance it needs to manage the impacts of climate change, according to data from the Climate Policy Initiative.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2ZN3I7&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



&#8220;Africa can no longer wait,&#8221; African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina told a climate adaptation summit on Monday. &#8220;Never have the stakes been so high.&#8221;



(Editing by Gloria Dickie and Aurora Ellis)

dry-dehydration-drought-rip-crack-earth

Africa needs investment to stave off disproportionate climate threats: WMO￼

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/DOJQTMHZVNIHTGNB43G7BY3FTA-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-418797" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/DOJQTMHZVNIHTGNB43G7BY3FTA-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/DOJQTMHZVNIHTGNB43G7BY3FTA-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/DOJQTMHZVNIHTGNB43G7BY3FTA-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/DOJQTMHZVNIHTGNB43G7BY3FTA-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/DOJQTMHZVNIHTGNB43G7BY3FTA.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>A loading station for lignite is seen near the open-pit mine field of Megalopolis, Greece June 9, 2022. REUTERS/Costas Baltas</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, July 28 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Global coal demand is set to rise slightly this year to match a record high reached nearly a decade ago, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday, as gas prices have soared.



In a coal market update report, the IEA said global coal consumption is forecast to rise by 0.7% in 2022 to 8 billion tonnes, assuming the Chinese economy recovers as expected in the second half of the year.



That would match a record high set in 2013 and coal demand is likely to increase further next year to an all-time high.



Coal consumption rebounded last year by around 6% as economies started to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to the largest ever annual increase in carbon dioxide emissions.



&#8220;The world&#8217;s continued burning of large amounts of coal is heightening climate concerns, as coal is the largest single source of energy-related CO2 emissions,&#8221; the report said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-coal-industry-is-delusional-south-africa-climate-change-official-says">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/coal-industry-is-delusional-south-africa-climate-change-official-says/">Coal industry is ‘delusional’, South Africa climate change official says</a></h3>



Global coal demand is being propped up this year by rising natural gas prices, which have increased gas-to-coal switching in many countries, as well as economic growth in India, the report said.



Demand for coal in India is expected to rise by 7% this year due to economic growth and increased use of electricity, while European Union demand is also forecast to rise by 7% as coal is increasingly being used to replace gas due to a fall in Russian pipeline gas exports.



Several EU countries are extending the life of coal plants scheduled for closure or reopening closed plants.



Although Chinese coal demand has declined by 3% in the first half of this year it is expected to go up in the second half.



China accounts for more than half the world&#8217;s coal demand.



(Reporting by Nina Chestney; editing by David Goodman, Jason Neely and David Evans)

DOJQTMHZVNIHTGNB43G7BY3FTA

Global coal demand to match record high this year, IEA says

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="546" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/MK3BFNE52RN2TOVFILP5S3UNXQ-820x546.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-418648" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/MK3BFNE52RN2TOVFILP5S3UNXQ-820x546.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/MK3BFNE52RN2TOVFILP5S3UNXQ-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/MK3BFNE52RN2TOVFILP5S3UNXQ-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/MK3BFNE52RN2TOVFILP5S3UNXQ-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/MK3BFNE52RN2TOVFILP5S3UNXQ-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/MK3BFNE52RN2TOVFILP5S3UNXQ-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>FILE PHOTO: A girl walks on a gas pipeline running through Okrika community near Nigeria&#8217;s oil hub city of Port Harcourt December 4, 2012. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye</figcaption></figure>



BRUSSELS/LONDON/CAPE TOWN, July 22 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Europe&#8217;s thirst for oil and gas to replace sanctioned Russian supply is reviving interest in African energy projects that were shunned due to costs and climate change concerns, industry executives and African officials said.



Energy firms are considering projects worth a total of $100 billion on the continent, according to Reuters calculations based on public and private company estimates.



African countries that currently have little or no oil and gas output could see billions in energy investments in the coming years, including Namibia, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania.



Namibia alone could provide around half a million barrels per day in new oil production, following promising exploratory wells in recent months, according to unpublished estimates by two industry consultants.



Africa as a whole could replace as much as one-fifth of Russian gas exports to Europe by 2030, based on estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The Paris-based watchdog said an additional 30 billion cubic metres (bcm) of African gas a year could flow to Europe by then.



&#8220;As the world seeks to replace Russian oil and gas volumes &#8230; the industry is now focusing on the advantaged barrels Africa has to offer,&#8221; said Gil Holzman, CEO of Canadian oil explorer Eco Atlantic Oil &amp; Gas, which holds interests in oil licenses in nearly 30,000 square kilometers offshore Namibia.



&#8220;The majors have been building larger positions &#8230; competitively bidding for exploration, development and production acreage,&#8221; he told Reuters by e-mail, citing activity in the oil basins off Namibia and South Africa.



European sanctions on Russian oil supply and reduced gas flows have sent prices soaring and driven up inflation to 40-year records in some countries. Benchmark Brent crude in March reached near a 15-year high of $139 a barrel.



Investment in African energy has yet to recover from a plunge in oil and gas prices in 2014, the IEA said in a June report, highlighting Africa&#8217;s potential to ease the supply crunch. Global oil output is set to rise from the pandemic but is then forecast to ebb in the late 2020s, it said.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2Y34LJ&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



&#8220;We are in the middle of the first truly global energy crisis and we have to find solutions to replace the loss of Russian oil and gas,&#8221; IEA executive director Fatih Birol told Reuters in an interview in June.



The IEA shocked the oil industry last year by envisioning no investment in new fossil fuel projects in order to meet net zero emissions goals by mid-century.



Companies and countries eyeing oil and gas investments in Africa are aware they must move fast to profit from untapped reserves before the global transition to low carbon technology renders many fossil fuel projects unviable, the executives and officials said,&nbsp;as domestic fuel and power demand also rises.



Last month, Tanzania signed a liquified natural gas (LNG) framework agreement with Norwegian state energy giant Equinor&nbsp;EQNR.OL&nbsp;and Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell&nbsp;RDSa.L&nbsp;that accelerates development of a $30 billion export terminal.



Patrick Pouyanne, CEO of French oil giant TotalEnergies&nbsp;TOTF.PA, said on a visit to Mozambique&#8217;s capital Maputo in January that, if security improves, the company aimed to restart a $20 billion LNG project this year that was halted by militancy.



Pouyanne said in May that TotalEnergies needed to make up for declining output and sanctioned Russian supply and was speeding up activity in Namibia, a promising oil frontier.



&#8220;Now there is a lot of activity to try to force forward these projects,&#8221; said Gonçalo Falcão of global law firm Mayer Brown, which advises firms in the African energy space, citing East African gas projects worth tens of billions of dollars. &#8220;There is clearly a sense of opportunity to reinforce them.&#8221;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BIRTH OF VENUS</h2>



For new African oil, nowhere looms larger than Namibia.



Not yet a producer, Namibia has had top companies sifting through geographical data and probing its waters for decades until Shell hit in February an &#8220;encouraging&#8221; supply of light oil &#8211; the kind coveted to produce scarce gasoline and diesel.



Nearly two months into the Ukraine crisis, with oil prices near record levels, Shell launched a &#8220;back-to-back&#8221; exploration well at the site &#8211; meaning one well immediately following another &#8211; for the first time in the company&#8217;s nearly 150-year history, according to two industry sources, who declined to be named as exploration continues.



Shell said the quick progress followed the &#8220;promising&#8221; results of the first well but cautioned in a statement to Reuters that, due to its climate commitments, it would only advance projects &#8220;with a credible path to early development &#8230; (that are) resilient and competitive in low- as well as high-price scenarios.&#8221;



TotalEnergies completed an exploration well in the nearby Venus prospect in March, which it called &#8220;significant&#8221;, with a more advanced appraisal well due in the third quarter.



On Namibia, TotalEnergies told Reuters it will &#8220;still have to determine if the volumes are commercially recoverable &#8230; (but) investments remain necessary to satisfy demand&#8221;.



A senior Shell official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, estimated it will take around $11 billion to develop the two companies&#8217; blocs.



The discoveries could lead to oil production of around half a million barrels per day, according to projections by data firm IHS Markit and estimates from natural resources consultancy Wood Mackenzie shared with Reuters. Both firms cautioned the forecasts were preliminary.



Maggy Shino, petroleum commissioner at the Ministry of Mines and Energy told Reuters time may be running out as the global transition to clean energy looms: &#8220;There is a possibility for Namibia to be the last African giant.&#8221;



&#8220;In the wake of the success in drilling off Namibia comes the Ukraine and Russian war &#8230; what we are seeing (is) that currently more companies are looking to invest in Namibia in the search for hydrocarbons,&#8221; she said, adding the country hopes to begin production from the Shell project by 2026.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2UI3SX&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-still-contenders">STILL CONTENDERS</h2>



The efforts are an echo of the initial decades of the post-colonial era when European governments and energy majors like Total, Shell and Eni&nbsp;ENI.MI&nbsp;worked in closer tandem to put Arab North Africa and a gaggle of Sub-Saharan states on the energy map.



Renewed European thirst for gas looks set to help push African output to a peak of nearly 500 billion cubic meters by the late 2030s, according to consultancy Rystad, up from 260 bcm in 2022.



Less sanguine, the IEA projects a peak of natural gas output in its &#8220;sustainable Africa scenario&#8221; under 300 bcm in 2024. It forecasts oil output will peak this decade at around 6 million bpd of oil in 2022 &#8211; down from over 10 million in 2010, indicating a longer life span for gas projects than oil.



More than half of Italian oil major ENI&#8217;s production comes from Africa and over half its investment in the last four years was there. Its drive to boost output there since the oil price rise sparked by the Ukraine war has dovetailed with initiatives by Rome.



Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi together with senior government delegations travelled to Algeria, Gabon and Angola in April and inked agreements to boost exports to Europe.



&#8220;Africa now has a huge opportunity. Following the recent crisis in Ukraine, the global context of the energy markets and supply were radically changed &#8212; not for a matter or years but for decades,&#8221; Eni&#8217;s Chief Exploration Officer Luca Bertelli told the Africa Energies Summit in London in May. &#8220;Momentum should be captured now&#8221;.



Top European gas importer Germany stepped up efforts to court Senegal with a state visit by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in May, offering help to tap vast gas resources, though no concrete project was agreed.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2XE09B&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



&#8220;The first thing Germany and Europe can do is buy our gas,&#8221; said Abd Esselam Ould Mohamed Salah, ministry of petroleum, mines and energy of Mauritania &#8211; which shares a vast gas field with neighboring Senegal that is due online next year.



&#8220;We welcome the increased interest we are seeing from European countries and companies in developing our resources, which is in our mutual interest,&#8221; he told Reuters, citing sales of offshore exploration blocs.



(Reporting By Noah Browning and Ron Bousso in London, Wendell Roelf in Cape Town, Andreas Rinke in Berlin, Helen Reid in Johannesburg and David Gaffen in New York; Editing by Daniel Flynn)

A girl walks on a gas pipeline running through Okrika community near Nigeria’s oil hub city of Port Harcourt

Ukraine war rekindles Europe’s demand for African oil and gas

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/responsive_big_webp_g4HszNIBPcEQqWKXN36WnGfcOeIXBid9O1akAXmkSmE-820x547.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-418642" width="820" height="547" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/responsive_big_webp_g4HszNIBPcEQqWKXN36WnGfcOeIXBid9O1akAXmkSmE-820x547.webp 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/responsive_big_webp_g4HszNIBPcEQqWKXN36WnGfcOeIXBid9O1akAXmkSmE-300x200.webp 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/responsive_big_webp_g4HszNIBPcEQqWKXN36WnGfcOeIXBid9O1akAXmkSmE-135x90.webp 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/responsive_big_webp_g4HszNIBPcEQqWKXN36WnGfcOeIXBid9O1akAXmkSmE-768x512.webp 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/responsive_big_webp_g4HszNIBPcEQqWKXN36WnGfcOeIXBid9O1akAXmkSmE-1536x1024.webp 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/responsive_big_webp_g4HszNIBPcEQqWKXN36WnGfcOeIXBid9O1akAXmkSmE.webp 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Africa’s abundant renewable energy sources could make it a global hub for producing low-carbon hydrogen Image: Unsplash/Anastasia Palagutina </figcaption></figure>



Africa could supply the whole world with affordable low-carbon energy in the form of hydrogen, a new report suggests.



In its Africa Energy Outlook 2022, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says<a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/africa-energy-outlook-2022/key-findings">&nbsp;Africa’s rich renewable resources&nbsp;</a>– particularly solar energy, but also onshore wind – are the key to unlocking this potential.



Africa could produce 5,000 megatonnes of hydrogen a year at less than $2 per kilogramme – equivalent to “global total energy supply today,” the IEA says.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="602" height="341" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/59jVq-Lv2nTKPngQHem4J4UbIaRhSwoxIN4lkSfNgHY.png" alt="" class="wp-image-418643" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/59jVq-Lv2nTKPngQHem4J4UbIaRhSwoxIN4lkSfNgHY.png 602w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/59jVq-Lv2nTKPngQHem4J4UbIaRhSwoxIN4lkSfNgHY-300x170.png 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/59jVq-Lv2nTKPngQHem4J4UbIaRhSwoxIN4lkSfNgHY-160x90.png 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 602px) 100vw, 602px" /><figcaption>Africa could produce 5,000 megatonnes of hydrogen a year at less than $2 per kilogramme. Image: Africa Energy Outlook 2022, IEA (p154)</figcaption></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-is-hydrogen-a-sustainable-option">Is hydrogen a sustainable option?</h3>



Hydrogen is an abundant and energy-rich gas that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/hydrogen/">occurs naturally in water and fossil fuels</a>&nbsp;like natural gas, coal, and petroleum, explains the US Energy Information Administration. Hydrogen can be used as a fuel by separating it from these sources.



When renewable energy – such as sun or wind – is used to power the separation of hydrogen from oxygen in water molecules, the hydrogen produced is classified as carbon-free&nbsp;<a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/focus/climate-change/zero-in-on-hydrogen.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwzqSWBhDPARIsAK38LY9-UxnJ6HND8Ze8zE-glW83VCIGOkr3d0C58aspSliIbZlQHqttSasaAsFIEALw_wcB">‘green hydrogen’.</a>



When<a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/in-depth-qa-does-the-world-need-hydrogen-to-solve-climate-change/">&nbsp;hydrogen is used as a fuel</a>, the only waste element it produces is water. This makes it better for the planet than burning fossil fuels, which contribute to global warming by producing carbon dioxide, and to air pollution.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-africa-s-big-hydrogen-potential">Africa’s big hydrogen potential</h3>



Africa has one of the world’s biggest potentials for producing hydrogen from low-cost renewable electricity, the IEA says. Africa has<a href="https://www.iea.org/news/global-energy-crisis-shows-urgency-of-accelerating-investment-in-cheaper-and-cleaner-energy-in-africa">&nbsp;60% of the world’s best solar resources</a>, but only 1% of current solar generation capacity.



Wind power is also a big resource. Arid and semi‐arid areas are ideal for wind and solar, the IEA says, especially in North Africa, the Horn of Africa and Southern Africa.



By 2030, Africa could produce 80% of the new power generation it needs from solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal and other renewable energies, the IEA says.



The falling cost of both solar units and hydrogen production is predicted to further increase Africa’s hydrogen potential. In the IEA’s model, this results in Africa’s $2-per-kilogramme hydrogen being up to half the price of hydrogen from the rest of the world.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="602" height="269" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/UxBGKWIMTM-F5GuL2jgrWSCXn_nkyxdLdNmmaT66Io0.png" alt="" class="wp-image-418644" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/UxBGKWIMTM-F5GuL2jgrWSCXn_nkyxdLdNmmaT66Io0.png 602w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/UxBGKWIMTM-F5GuL2jgrWSCXn_nkyxdLdNmmaT66Io0-300x134.png 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/UxBGKWIMTM-F5GuL2jgrWSCXn_nkyxdLdNmmaT66Io0-160x71.png 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 602px) 100vw, 602px" /><figcaption>Hydrogen could help the 600 million Africans who don&#8217;t have access to electricity. Image: Africa Energy Outlook 2022, IEA (p35)</figcaption></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Africa’s energy challenges</h3>



About 600 million people – 43% of Africa’s population – currently don’t have access to electricity. Most of these people live in sub-Saharan Africa. Countries including Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda will be on track for full access by 2030, the IEA predicts in its Sustainable Africa Scenario.



This is mostly achieved by extending national grids, it says. In rural areas &#8211; where most people without access to electricity live – solar mini-grids and standalone systems are the most viable solutions.



To reach universal access to affordable electricity by 2030, Africa will need to connect 90 million people a year, the IEA says. This is three times the rate of recent years.



Hydrogen is seen as one of the answers.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">How is hydrogen used in Africa today?</h3>



Hydrogen is currently used in industry to make fertilizer based on ammonia – a common<a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/green-ammonia-stop-fossil-fuels/">&nbsp;crop nutrient</a>&nbsp;– and to refine oil in North Africa and Nigeria. This hydrogen is mostly extracted from natural gas and coal and is not low-carbon, the IEA says.



But in the IEA’s model of future energy use in Africa, strong policy support and infrastructure investment triggers “rapid growth in the production and domestic uptake of low‐carbon hydrogen”.



By 2030, this leads to “significant potential” to export to demand centres in Europe.



The IEA notes that a number of low-carbon hydrogen projects are already under way or under discussion in Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia and South Africa.

responsive_big_webp_g4HszNIBPcEQqWKXN36WnGfcOeIXBid9O1akAXmkSmE

How Africa could become a global hydrogen powerhouse

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="542" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/RJSCLF45ZFM5LK37C7N73TXNKE-820x542.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-418101" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/RJSCLF45ZFM5LK37C7N73TXNKE-820x542.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/RJSCLF45ZFM5LK37C7N73TXNKE-300x198.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/RJSCLF45ZFM5LK37C7N73TXNKE-136x90.jpg 136w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/RJSCLF45ZFM5LK37C7N73TXNKE-768x507.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/RJSCLF45ZFM5LK37C7N73TXNKE.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Cracked and dry earth is seen in the wide riverbed of the Loire River near the Anjou-Bretagne bridge as a heatwave hits Europe, in Ancenis-Saint-Gereon, France, June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, June 28 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Extreme weather events – from scorching heatwaves to unusually heavy downpours – have caused widespread upheaval across the globe this year, with thousands of people killed and millions more displaced.



In the last three months, monsoon rains unleashed disastrous flooding in Bangladesh, and brutal heatwaves seared parts of South Asia and Europe. Meanwhile, prolonged drought has left millions on the brink of famine in East Africa.



Much of this, scientists say, is what&#8217;s expected from climate change.



On Tuesday, a team of climate scientists published a&nbsp;<a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2752-5295/ac6e7d" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>&nbsp;in the journal Environmental Research: Climate. The researchers scrutinized the role climate change has played in individual weather events over the past two decades.



The findings confirm warnings of how global warming will change our world &#8211; and also make clear what information is missing.



For heatwaves and extreme rainfall, &#8220;we find we have a much better understanding of how the intensity of these events is changing due to climate change,&#8221; said study co-author Luke Harrington, a climate scientist at Victoria University of Wellington.



Less understood, however, is how climate change influences wildfires and drought.



For their review paper, scientists drew upon hundreds of &#8220;attribution&#8221; studies, or research that aims to calculate how climate change affected an extreme event using computer simulations and weather observations.



There are also large data gaps in many low- and middle-income countries, making it harder to understand what&#8217;s happening in those regions, said co-author Friederike Otto, one of the climatologists leading the international research collaboration World Weather Attribution (WWA).



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-heatwaves">HEATWAVES</h2>



With heatwaves, it&#8217;s highly probable that climate change is making things worse.



&#8220;Pretty much all heatwaves across the world have been made more intense and more likely by climate change,&#8221; said study co-author Ben Clarke, an environmental scientist at the University of Oxford.



In general, a heatwave that previously had a 1 in 10 chance of occurring is now nearly three times as likely — and peaking at temperatures around 1 degree Celsius higher – than it would have been without climate change.



An April heatwave that saw the mercury climb above 50C (122 Fahrenheit) in India and Pakistan, for example, was made 30 times more likely by climate change, according to WWA.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2VK1ZD&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Heatwaves across the Northern Hemisphere in June &#8211; from Europe to the United States &#8211; highlight &#8220;exactly what our review paper shows … the frequency of heatwaves has gone up so much,&#8221; Otto said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">RAINFALL AND FLOODING</h2>



Last week, China saw extensive flooding, following heavy rains. At the same time, Bangladesh was hit with a flood-triggering deluge.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2Y847J&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Overall, episodes of heavy rainfall are becoming more common and more intense. That&#8217;s because warmer air holds more moisture, so storm clouds are &#8220;heavier&#8221; before they eventually break.



Still, the impact varies by region, with some areas not receiving enough rain, the study said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">DROUGHT</h2>



Scientists have a harder time figuring out how climate change affects drought.



Some regions have suffered ongoing dryness. Warmer temperatures in the&nbsp;U.S.&nbsp;West, for example, are melting the snowpack faster and driving evaporation, the study said.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2VK1ZD&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



And while East African droughts have yet to be linked directly to climate change, scientists say the decline in the spring rainy season is tied to warmer waters in the Indian Ocean. This causes rains to fall rapidly over the ocean before reaching the Horn.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2XX296&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">WILDFIRE</h2>



Heatwaves and drought conditions are also worsening wildfires, particularly megafires &#8211; those that burn more than 100,000 acres.



Fire raged across the U.S. state of New Mexico in April, after a controlled burn set under &#8220;much drier conditions than recognized&#8221; got out of control, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The fires burned 341,000 acres.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2Y933D&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">TROPICAL CYCLONES</h2>



On a global scale, the frequency of storms hasn&#8217;t increased. However, cyclones are now more common in the central Pacific and North Atlantic, and less so in the Bay of Bengal, western North Pacific and southern Indian Ocean, the study said.



There is also evidence that tropical storms are becoming more intense and even stalling overland, where they can deliver more rain on a single area.



So while climate change might not have made Cyclone Batsirai any more likely to have formed in February, it probably made it more intense, capable of destroying more than 120,000 homes when it hit Madagascar.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2UM0M5&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Climate change boosted odds of recent deadly heat in India, Pakistan, scientists say<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2XF1QY&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



INSIGHT-In hottest city on Earth, mothers bear brunt of climate change<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N2XN30O&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Rain-triggered floods in Bangladesh conjure climate warnings<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2Y847J&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



NOAA says drought likely to expand, worsen in western U.S.<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2VK1ZD&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



(Reporting by Gloria Dickie; Editing by Katy Daigle and Lisa Shumaker)

RJSCLF45ZFM5LK37C7N73TXNKE

Climate change is driving 2022 extreme heat and flooding

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="410" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Oped-Yelland-EnergyTW-option-2-820x410.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-399687" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Oped-Yelland-EnergyTW-option-2-820x410.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Oped-Yelland-EnergyTW-option-2-300x150.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Oped-Yelland-EnergyTW-option-2-768x384.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Oped-Yelland-EnergyTW-option-2-1536x768.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Oped-Yelland-EnergyTW-option-2.jpg 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /></figure>



BRUSSELS, June 23 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;African nations rich in energy but otherwise underdeveloped must secure a right to growth and power at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt in November, senior officials from across the continent said this week.



Rich nations must not let concerns over emissions causing climate change hinder energy projects, including fossil fuels, energy leaders told the African Energy Forum in Brussels.



For many, the sanctions and reduced flows from Russia that have sent European countries scrambling to shore up their energy supplies from elsewhere is a boon, as the energy crunch drives up inflation and stokes recession fears. {nL1N2Y90HK]



&#8220;All the arguments we heard at COP26 are not the same anymore,&#8221; Cheikh Niane, vice petroleum minister of emerging gas power Senegal told Reuters.



&#8220;At COP27 we are expecting the G7 and all developed countries to consider in the energy transition letting African countries develop gas which finances electricity for our citizens and helps industrialize our countries&#8221;.



Nearly 200 countries at last year&#8217;s summit in Glasgow, Scotland, agreed to strengthen climate pledges.



But for Osvaldo Abreu, minister of infrastructure and Natural Resources of Sao Tome and Principe, his attendance left him dreading his poor island nation would never see revenues from untapped oil and gas prospects.



&#8220;What we&#8217;re asking from the big economies is to look at our conditions: we would be prepared in the final case to stop exploration if we got the minimum financial support we need,&#8221; Abreu told Reuters.



Wealthy nations disappointed many in Glasgow by saying they would not deliver the $100 billion per year promised from 2020 until 2023 to help developing countries with their energy transition and with adapting to a warming world.



&#8220;We need this oil &#8230; and what we need is for them to keep their promises, because we have seen nothing so far,&#8221; he added.



Egypt, a natural gas exporter, takes over the presidency of the U.N. climate talks from Britain and hosts the COP27 summit Nov. 7-18 summit in Sharm el-Sheikh.



&#8220;The COP27 session is going to be a different flavour,&#8221; said Ayman Soliman, CEO of the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, adding the conference will focus on agreements to finance fuel and power projects especially climate-friendly ones like its plan to ramp up green ammonia for shipping in the Suez Canal.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AC6N2W4002&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



&#8220;We want to do projects and to unlock financing &#8230; we&#8217;ve been trying to speak the language of the rest of the world but now the world needs to look at us and speak our language.&#8221;



(Reporting By Noah Browning; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

Oped-Yelland-EnergyTW-option-2

COP27 conference must advance African energy, development – officials

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2WFDELJDUNIXZOSCLCQNTQHK5I-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-418006" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2WFDELJDUNIXZOSCLCQNTQHK5I-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2WFDELJDUNIXZOSCLCQNTQHK5I-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2WFDELJDUNIXZOSCLCQNTQHK5I-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2WFDELJDUNIXZOSCLCQNTQHK5I-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2WFDELJDUNIXZOSCLCQNTQHK5I-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2WFDELJDUNIXZOSCLCQNTQHK5I-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>FILE PHOTO: Model of petrol pump is seen in front of EU and Russian flag colors in this illustration taken March 25, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



MOSCOW, June 23 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Russia is increasing gasoline and naphtha supplies to Africa and the Middle East as it struggles to sell fuel in Europe, while Asia is already taking bigger volumes of Russian crude, Refinitiv Eikon data showed and sources said.



The development is likely to increase competition for Asian customers between Russia and other big fuel exporters – Saudi Arabia and the United States – which are the top three suppliers to Asia.



The European Union has slowly reduced imports of Russian crude and fuel since March and agreed a full embargo that will take effect by end-2022.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2XN1YN&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Asian buyers have stepped in to rapidly increase purchases of Russian crude, even though Asia is not a natural market for Russian fuel because Asia refines more oil than it needs and is a net fuel exporter.



That makes finding new outlets such as Africa and the Middle East paramount for Russia to protect its global market share and avert a deeper decline in oil exports and output.



“Africa and the Middle East seem to be main options for Russian oil product suppliers, so we expect more shipments there in the second half of the year as EU embargo gets closer”, a trader involved in Russian oil product trading told Reuters.



Russia exported more than 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude and some 2 million bpd of fuel to Europe before sanctions on the Russian financial sector, which has made trade much more difficult.



Russian oil companies have recently increased supplies of gasoline and naphtha to Africa and the Middle East from the Baltics, traders said. Before sanctions, most Russian supply to the regions came from the Black Sea ports.



At least five cargoes carrying about 230,000 tonnes of gasoline and naphtha were supplied in May-June from the Baltic port of Ust-Luga to Oman and to the UAE oil hub of Fujairah, based on Refinitiv data.



In total, naphtha and gasoline supplies from Russian ports to Oman and UAE have totalled nearly 550,000 tonnes this year compared with zero in the whole 2021, data showed.



Nigeria and Morocco have been major destinations in Africa for Russian gasoline and naphtha in recent months, Refinitiv Eikon data showed and traders said, while several cargoes also were supplied to Senegal, Sudan, Ivory Coast and Togo.



Overall monthly supply of Russian gasoline and naphtha to the region was at about 200,000 tonnes during recent months, including volumes shipped from storage in Latvian and Estonian ports, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.



Russian diesel shipments to African countries have reached 1 million tonnes since the beginning of the year, up from 0.8 million tonnes in January-June 2021, with Senegal and Togo as top destinations, Refinitiv data and Reuters calculations showed.



In May, Russian fuel oil arrivals in the UAE oil hub of Fujairah also jumped sharply.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL5N2X48FB&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Despite higher shipping costs, supplying Russian oil products to Africa and the Middle East helps trading firms to preserve margins as options to resell oil products in Europe have been limited due to sanctions, traders said.



&#8220;Sohar (in Oman) and Fujairah (in UAE) could offer storage and blending capacities for all these barrels, while European ports have started to refuse Russian oil products&#8221;, a market source involved in Russian oil product trading said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-domestic-market-upheaval">DOMESTIC MARKET UPHEAVAL</h2>



The change in Russia&#8217;s export markets has resulted in an unprecedented disparity in Russia&#8217;s domestic market. Summer grade diesel is currently traded at prices 30-40% higher than gasoline, based on Reuters data. Gasoline is normally at a premium to diesel.



Previously Russia exported gasoline and naphtha to European trading hubs, but has had to look to Africa and the Middle East amid weak demand in Europe, traders said.



As a result, domestic prices for these products in Russia have collapsed because of plentiful supply.



Russian gasoline traded $250-300 per tonne below non-sanctioned European product, which was most recently assessed at around $1,330 per tonne on FOB basis.&nbsp;EUROBOB-ARA



Diesel cargoes were discounted much less &#8211; about $40-50 per tonne below non-sanctioned European product &#8211; because there is still strong demand, traders said.



(Reporting by Reuters. Editing by Jane Merriman)

FILE PHOTO: Illustration shows model of petrol pump, EU and Russian flag colors

Russia seeks new fuel markets in Africa, Middle East as Europe turns away

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/6844b013dd3c6cefd6a3bb3b80edf1fc.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-418003" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/6844b013dd3c6cefd6a3bb3b80edf1fc.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/6844b013dd3c6cefd6a3bb3b80edf1fc-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/6844b013dd3c6cefd6a3bb3b80edf1fc-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/6844b013dd3c6cefd6a3bb3b80edf1fc-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption>FILE PHOTO: A pipe yard servicing government-owned oil pipeline operator Trans Mountain is seen in Kamloops</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, June 23 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The UK government&#8217;s development finance institution British International Investment (BII) plans to invest $200 million in a joint project with Norway&#8217;s Norfund to construct at least three hydroelectric power projects in Africa, BII said on Thursday.



The two institutions will equally split a 49% shareholding in a joint venture with Norway&#8217;s Scatec ASA&nbsp;SCATC.OL&nbsp;for the projects, BII said in a emailed statement.



These will include the planned 205 megawatt (MW) Ruzizi III hydroelectric plant to supply electricity to Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo, the 120 MW Volobe hydropower plant in Madagascar, and Malawi&#8217;s 350 MW Mpatamanga project, BII said.



(Reporting by Rachel Savage; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Nellie Peyton and Jan Harvey)

6844b013dd3c6cefd6a3bb3b80edf1fc

British International Investment plans $200 mln investment in Africa hydropower

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="570" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CQH2GCFS7VKHNNUO4RF6ABAM54-820x570.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-417906" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CQH2GCFS7VKHNNUO4RF6ABAM54-820x570.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CQH2GCFS7VKHNNUO4RF6ABAM54-300x209.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CQH2GCFS7VKHNNUO4RF6ABAM54-129x90.jpg 129w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CQH2GCFS7VKHNNUO4RF6ABAM54-768x534.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CQH2GCFS7VKHNNUO4RF6ABAM54-1536x1068.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CQH2GCFS7VKHNNUO4RF6ABAM54-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks as he attends the signing into law of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, which will level the playing field for American exporters and importers, including farmers, and reduce costs for American consumers by lowering the cost of ocean shipping, at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 16, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein</figcaption></figure>



WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday will urge China and other major economies to ramp up their efforts to combat climate change by cutting methane emissions, adopting ambitious targets for zero-emission vehicles and cleaning up shipping.



At the third virtual gathering of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) under his presidency, Biden will also call on countries to spend $90 billion to speed commercialization of clean technologies, and to develop new fertilizers that cut agricultural emissions and boost food security, senior U.S. officials told reporters.



Friday&#8217;s meeting will be the largest gathering of world leaders on climate change before the November global climate conference known as COP27 to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.



The White House said Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will announce a joint effort to build climate resilience in Africa, while other countries were slated to join in several initiatives to reduce emissions.



The countries that make up the MEF account for roughly 80% of global economic output and global greenhouse gas emissions.



Several countries were expected to announce new 2030 emissions targets under the Paris climate agreement, the White House said, but did not name them.



The gathering comes at a critical juncture, with Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine having driven energy prices sharply higher and exposing Europe&#8217;s huge dependence on Russia for about 40% of the natural gas used to heat its homes and generate electricity.



The war in Ukraine has underscored the importance of decarbonizing transport, rethinking fertilizer and improving energy security, a senior U.S. official said.



&#8220;It&#8217;s &#8230; shown a very bright light on where the solutions are, and what it takes to get there,&#8221; the official said.



Officials said the United States and other major gas producers and consumers would launch a &#8220;global methane energy pathway&#8221; that would provide fresh technical and financial resources to mitigate methane in the oil and gas sector, while working to eliminate routine gas flaring no later than 2030.



Washington planned to spend $21.5 billion on large-scale demonstration projects to achieve net-zero emissions and would urge other countries to chip in to reach the total $90 billion in estimated investment needs, one of the officials said.



Biden, who last year signed an executive order mandating that half of all light-duty vehicles sold in the United States be zero-emission by 2030, would call on other leaders to match that target, officials said.



The United States and Norway would also launch a green shipping challenge for COP27 to encourage governments, ports and cargo owners to come up with concrete steps towards full decarbonization no later than 2050, they said.



Finally, Biden would address the &#8220;devastating effect&#8221; of Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine on the global food system and set a goal of raising $100 million in new funding for development of alternative fertilizers by COP27, the White House said.



Also participating in the forum will be leaders from Argentina, Australia, Chile, Canada, the European Union, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Norway, Nigeria, South Korea, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Britain, Vietnam and France, the White House said.



(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Robert Birsel)

U.S. President Joe Biden signs into law the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022

Biden to lead major economies in push for more urgent action on climate

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Y3EXYRV3LRLWFP7EWD3MOXKL3Q-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-417730" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Y3EXYRV3LRLWFP7EWD3MOXKL3Q-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Y3EXYRV3LRLWFP7EWD3MOXKL3Q-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Y3EXYRV3LRLWFP7EWD3MOXKL3Q-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Y3EXYRV3LRLWFP7EWD3MOXKL3Q-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Y3EXYRV3LRLWFP7EWD3MOXKL3Q.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Logs of wood float on the Lagos lagoon near the Makoko riverine slum, in Lagos, Nigeria February 27, 2022. Picture taken February 27, 2022. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, June 9 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The world&#8217;s biggest insurers are expanding in Africa, looking to tap growth promised by a rising population and middle class, but climate change could complicate their quest for profits.



With Western markets overcrowded, the continent provides a rare chance to grow.



In the United States, insurance premiums, including life, and general insurance, make up the equivalent of 12% of economic output or gross domestic product, according to Swiss Re. That is roughly four times the level across Africa, based on African Insurance Organisation estimates for 2019.



However, the region faces some of the fastest warming globally.



Temperatures in southern Africa rose at twice the global rate on average in the five years leading up to 2019, according to a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.



Yet insurers are undeterred, with some looking to expand even in vulnerable territories.



Global reinsurer Swiss Re&nbsp;SRENH.S&nbsp;wants to push further into Nigeria, including the major city Lagos, where sea surges already threaten expensive real estate and poor slums. It is in talks with regulators there to change the rules to allow foreign reinsurance firms to write more business.



Peer Scor&nbsp;SCOR.PA&nbsp;wants to build up in agriculture &#8211; a sector highly vulnerable to extreme weather.



Other major African banks and insurers including Standard Bank&nbsp;SBKJ.J, Absa&nbsp;ABGJ.J&nbsp;and Sanlam&nbsp;SLMJ.J&nbsp;have also put expanding into African markets at the core of their strategies.



This will expose their portfolios to ever more climate risk. The companies said there were multiple ways to mitigate this, including working with clients to reduce the risks they face.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-peeling-an-onion">PEELING AN ONION</h2>



Low levels of banking and insurance uptake among the continent&#8217;s young, rapidly growing and increasingly wealthy population mean Africa is seen as among the most attractive, untapped financial services markets in the world.



Before COVID-19, Africa&#8217;s insurance market was expected to grow at compound annual growth rates of 7% per year between 2020 and 2025 &#8211; nearly twice as fast as predictions for North America, three times that of Europe and better than Asia&#8217;s predicted 7%, according to McKinsey.



Insurers are already counting the cost of climate change&nbsp;elsewhere.&nbsp;In wildfire hot spots such as California, they have pulled out of providing cover.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2RM0WB&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



But in Africa, the current low levels of penetration mean that massive economic losses from weather-related disasters do not yet reflect in credit and insurance portfolios.



For global reinsurers, building up on the continent is therefore a way to diversify their portfolio, and hedge the climate risks they face elsewhere, Scor and Swiss Re said.



&#8220;A flood in Lagos or drought in Kenya have no correlation with a tsunami in Japan,&#8221; said Swiss Re&#8217;s market executive for Africa and the Middle East, Beat Strebel. This means losses in one territory can be offset with premium income from another.



With the continent accounting for such a small part of its global business, the reinsurer had ample room to grow for decades, he said.



In Nigeria, for instance, where floods caused huge economic losses, property and casualty insurance penetration stands at just 0.3% of gross domestic product, he said.



Strebel pointed to the importance of innovative products such as parametric insurance, which Scor also said would be key.



Parametric products use a single data point to trigger payouts, avoiding costly visits by loss adjusters.



Scor is running several pilot projects on the continent in agricultural parametric insurance which could see it enter new sub-Saharan African markets if successful.



Still,&nbsp;insurers can run into trouble.



The Kenya Livestock Insurance Programme (KLIP) is one of the most prominent parametric schemes, winning praise for paying out to tens of thousands of smallholder farmers when their livestock died from drought.



The government subsidised premiums to make it work. But Swiss Re, its main reinsurance backer, racked up years of losses on the programme when droughts were more severe than it anticipated.



In 2018, it told the Kenyan government it would have to rework the KLIP to make it more sustainable, by reducing how frequently it had to make the maximum overall payout, the scheme&#8217;s top official Richard Kyuma told Reuters.



Getting estimations of climate risk right is not easy, said McKinsey partner Antonio Grimaldi, especially when it comes to its second-order effects on people&#8217;s willingness to live and work in an affected area. African banks and insurers were first to accept it is something they are yet to fully grasp.



&#8220;Climate risk is like peeling an onion, but the layers never end,&#8221; said Wendy Dobson of Standard Bank. &#8220;Just when we think we understand it we realise we don&#8217;t.&#8221;



(Reporting by Emma Rumney; additional reporting by Carolyn Cohn in London and Duncan Miriri in Nairobi; editing by John O&#8217;Donnell and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

Y3EXYRV3LRLWFP7EWD3MOXKL3Q

Warming Africa threatens insurers’ quest for profit

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/100450726-dirt-820x461.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-417626" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/100450726-dirt-820x461.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/100450726-dirt-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/100450726-dirt-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/100450726-dirt-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/100450726-dirt-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/100450726-dirt.jpg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Photo: via CNBC</figcaption></figure>



Soil can be considered black gold, and we’re running out it.



The United Nations declared soil finite and predicted catastrophic loss within 60 years.



“There are places that have already lost all of their topsoil,” Jo Handelsman, author of “A World Without Soil,” and a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told CNBC.



The impact of soil degradation could total&nbsp;$23 trillion&nbsp;in losses of food, ecosystem services and income worldwide by 2050, according to the United Nations Convention to Combat&nbsp;Desertification.



“We have identified 10 soil threats in our global report … Soil erosion is number one because it’s taking place everywhere,” Ronald Vargas, the secretary of the Global Soil Partnership and Land and Water Officer at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, told CNBC.



According to the U.N., soil erosion may reduce up to 10% of crop yields by 2050, which is the equivalent of removing millions of acres of farmland.



And when the world loses soil, food supply, clean drinking water and biodiversity are threatened.



What’s more, soil plays an important role in mitigating climate change.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-how-south-africa-s-recent-floods-compel-climate-action">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/how-south-africas-recent-floods-compel-climate-action%ef%bf%bc/">How South Africa’s recent floods compel climate action</a></h3>



Soil contains more than three times the amount of carbon in the earth’s atmosphere and four times as much in all living plants and animals combined, according to the Columbia Climate School.



&nbsp;“Soil is the habitat for over a quarter of the planet’s biodiversity. Each gram of soil contains millions of cells of bacteria and fungi that play a very important role in all ecosystem services,” Reza Afshar, chief scientist at the regenerative agriculture research farm at the Rodale Institute, told CNBC.



The Rodale Institute in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, is known as the birthplace of modern organic agriculture.&nbsp;



“The projects we do here are centered around improving and rebuilding soil health. We have a farming system trial that’s been running for 42 years,” Afshar said. It is the longest-running side-by-side comparison of organic and conventional grain cropping systems in North America.



The research has found regenerative, organic agriculture produces yields up to 40% higher during droughts, can earn farmers greater profits and releases 40% fewer carbon emissions than conventional agricultural practices.



How’s that possible? The Rodale Institute says it all starts with the soil.



“When we talk about healthy soil, we are talking about all aspects of the soil, chemical, physical and biological that should be in a perfect status to be able to produce healthy food for us,” Afshar said.



It’s critical, of course, because the world relies on soil for 95%&nbsp;of our food production. But that’s just the beginning of its importance.



“The good news is that we know enough to get to work,” Dianna Bagnall, a research soil scientist at the Soil Health Institute, told CNBC.

100450726-dirt

Why the global soil shortage threatens food, medicine and the climate

KEY POINTS



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>A document outlining the European Commission’s aims for the REPowerEU plan was published on Wednesday.</li><li>It highlighted the importance of energy savings, the diversification of energy imports and speeding up what it called “Europe’s clean energy transition.”</li><li>The EU’s desire to wean itself off Russian hydrocarbons means it will need to find oil and gas from other parts of the world to plug supply gaps.</li></ul>



The European Commission has fleshed out details of a plan to ramp up the EU’s renewable energy capacity and reduce its reliance on Russian fossil fuels, at the same time acknowledging that existing coal facilities may have to be used for “longer than initially expected.”



A document outlining the Commission’s aims for the REPowerEU plan was published on Wednesday, highlighting the importance of energy savings, the diversification of energy imports and speeding up what it called “Europe’s clean energy transition.”



In total, it envisages extra investment of 210 billion euros ($220.87 billion) between 2022 and 2027. When it comes to renewables’ share in the EU’s energy mix, the Commission has proposed that the current target of 40% by 2030 should be increased to 45%.



The Commission’s proposals came on the same day the governments of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium said they would aim for a combined target of at least 65 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030. By the middle of the century, they are aiming for 150 GW of capacity.



On the fossil fuel front, the situation is a challenging one. Russia was the biggest supplier of both petroleum oils and natural gas to the EU last year,&nbsp;<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=EU_imports_of_energy_products_-_recent_developments#:~:text=Russia%20was%20the%20largest%20supplier,and%2C%20at%20some%20distance%20Algeria" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to Eurostat</a>.



The EU’s desire to wean itself off Russian hydrocarbons&nbsp;following the latter’s invasion of Ukraine&nbsp;means it will need to find oil and gas from other parts of the world to plug supply gaps.



The Commission said as much as 1.5 to 2 billion euros of investment would be needed to secure oil supply. To import enough liquefied natural gas and pipeline gas from other sources, an estimated 10 billion euros will be needed by 2030.



All the above comes at a time when the EU has said it wants to be carbon neutral by 2050. In the medium term, it wants net greenhouse gas emissions to be cut by at least 55% by 2030, which the EU calls its “Fit for 55” plan.



The Commission said REPowerEU could not work without what it called “a fast implementation of all Fit for 55 proposals and higher targets for renewables and energy efficiency.”



In this new reality, gas consumption in the EU would “reduce at a faster pace, limiting the role of gas as a transitional fuel,” the Commission said.



“However, shifting away from Russian fossil fuels will also require targeted investments for security of supply in gas infrastructure and very limited changes to oil infrastructure alongside large-scale investments in the electricity grid and an EU-wide hydrogen backbone,” it added.



“In parallel, some of the existing coal capacities might also be used longer than initially expected, with a role for nuclear power and domestic gas resources too,” the Commission said.



During a press conference on Wednesday the EU’s climate chief, Frans Timmermans, admitted that using less natural gas in a transitional phase would mean “you might use coal a bit longer — that has a negative impact on your emissions.”



“But if at the same time, as we propose, you rapidly speed up the introduction of renewables — solar, wind, biomethane — you then have the opposite movement,” he said.



Timmermans, who is the European Commission’s executive vice president for the European Green Deal, went on to stress the importance of finding a middle ground.



“If we can actually do what I say — reduce our energy consumption in combination with a speedier introduction of renewables — we will bring down our emissions even quicker than before,” he said.



“And then, of course we will have slightly higher emissions if people stick a bit longer to coal, but we need to strike the balance so that, on balance, we do not increase our emissions — we hopefully even decrease them more.”



Coal has a substantial effect on the environment, with Greenpeace describing it as “the dirtiest, most polluting way of producing energy.”



Elsewhere, the U.S. Energy Information Administration lists a range of emissions from coal combustion, including carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulates and nitrogen oxides.



The European Commission announcement drew criticism from a number of environmental organizations.



“These plans are supposed to fast-track the clean energy transition — but the European Commission’s latest strategy gives with one hand and takes with the other,” Eilidh Robb, an anti-fossil fuels campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, said.



“So-called REPowerEU contains useful and necessary strides towards renewable solutions but it simultaneously enables almost 50 fossil fuel infrastructure projects and expansions,” Robb said.

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Energy, Environment & Climate Change

African countries to push common energy position at COP27

Lack of funding in focus as Congo hosts pre-COP27 climate talks

Coal rush! Energy crisis fires global hunt for polluting fuel

US climate envoy Kerry cautions against long-term gas projects in Africa

Africa losing up to 15% of GDP growth to climate change – AfDB

Africa needs investment to stave off disproportionate climate threats: WMO￼

Global coal demand to match record high this year, IEA says

Ukraine war rekindles Europe’s demand for African oil and gas

How Africa could become a global hydrogen powerhouse

Climate change is driving 2022 extreme heat and flooding

COP27 conference must advance African energy, development – officials

Russia seeks new fuel markets in Africa, Middle East as Europe turns away

British International Investment plans $200 mln investment in Africa hydropower

Biden to lead major economies in push for more urgent action on climate

Warming Africa threatens insurers’ quest for profit

Why the global soil shortage threatens food, medicine and the climate

Europe admits it’ll have to burn more coal as it tries to wean itself off Russian energy

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Advertise With Us

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Africa needs investment to stave off disproportionate climate threats: WMO