Did US secretary of State mean it when he said Washington will not dictate Africa’s choices?

Not all countries bear equal responsibility for this crisis. The United States has around 4 percent of the world’s population; we contribute about 11 percent of global emissions, making us the second-biggest emitter after China. Sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for 15 percent of the world’s population, produces only 3 percent of emissions. And historically, major economies like ours took steps to develop that we’re now asking others to forgo because we’ve understood the impact on climate.

We recognize this imbalance places a greater responsibility on countries like the United States, both to reduce our own emissions, but also to help other countries make the transition to clean energy and adapt to a changing climate. That’s why, at COP26, President Biden committed to work with our Congress to dedicate $3 billion a year to help people in the most vulnerable countries adapt to the impacts of climate change. As home to 17 of the world’s 20 most climate-vulnerable countries, much of this aid will go to sub-Saharan Africa. And we will look to build on these and other efforts at COP27 in Egypt later this year.

Leaders across Africa have made clear that while they are committed to doing their part to reduce climate change, they need greater and more reliable energy access to meet people’s urgent needs and growing needs.

We know that this transition will not look the same in every country or community – that it will need to be tailored to individual capacities and individual circumstances. And the United States is committed to working closely with you as you determine how best to meet your specific needs for expanded energy access and economic development, as well as the climate targets that you’ve set. We’re also committed to helping you support the workers and communities who will bear the greatest short-term costs of the shift to clean energy. All that is part and parcel of making what we call a just energy transition.

But I think it’s a mistake to think about climate only through the prism of threats, burdens – or to frame this as a choice between preventing a catastrophe and creating opportunities. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to expand energy access and create opportunities – for Africans and for Americans. That’s what President Biden means when he says, “When I think of climate change, I think jobs.”

We’re already showing how that can be done. In Ghana, we’re working with partners to build West Africa’s first hybrid solar-hydro plant. It’s going to improve reliability, reduce costs, and cut more than 47,000 tons of emissions every year. That is the equivalent of taking about 10,000 cars off the road. In Kenya, where 90 percent of the energy comes from renewable sources, U.S. firms have invested $570 million into off-grid energy markets, creating 40,000 green jobs.

We’re also working together to conserve and restore the continent’s natural ecosystems, which is crucial to reducing emissions and preserving the continent’s unique, extraordinary biodiversity. That means delivering real incentives for governments and communities to choose conservation over deforestation because the lasting consequences of losing forests like the one in the Congo Basin – the world’s first lung – will be devastating and irreversible for local communities as well as for communities around the world.

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