威力彩玩法

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28 Mar 2023, 13:41
Carolina Kyllmann

Africa key European energy transition partner, says Kenya鈥檚 president, warns against trade barriers

Kenya's president Ruto and German foreign minister Baerbock at the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue. Photo: BETD
Kenya's president Ruto and German foreign minister Baerbock at the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue. Photo: BETD

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Africa could become Europe's most important partner for the development of the energy transition, provided the right kinds of investments are made at sufficient scale, Kenya鈥檚 president William Ruto said in his opening speech at the . 鈥淲ith the right level of investment, Africa can provide energy access for all by 2030 while reducing total emissions related to energy generation by approximately 80 percent,鈥 Ruto said at the conference hosted by the German government. Pointing out that Africa is home to between 30 to 40 percent of the world鈥檚 raw materials needed for the energy transition, Kenya's president said that the planned EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) should encourage low-emissions production from the continent. He added that the bloc could enhance innovative financing by using more high-quality African carbon credits in EU emission trading markets, which offer core benefits such as increased biodiversity and improved livelihoods. Ruto called for cooperation in ensuring support for the places that are doing 鈥渢he difficult work of protecting nature,鈥 making finance more easily available, accessible and affordable, while increasing debt limits.

Germany is trying to diversify its import partners and reduce dependencies, especially in the energy and raw materials sectors. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 repeat the same mistakes we committed in the past,鈥 foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said referring to Germany鈥檚 dependency on Russian fossil fuels, which forced the country to also re-evaluate its dependencies on raw materials and supply chains. While the upcoming Critical Raw Materials Act in the EU would ensure the bloc鈥檚 industry will have sufficient access to raw materials going forward, 鈥渨e can鈥檛 do magic on European soil,鈥 Baerbock said. Thus, international partnerships 鈥渁t eye level鈥 are needed, meaning that everyone should profit, especially the countries where the resources come from. 鈥淕lobal security depends on getting away from fossil fuels,鈥 the Green Party politician said, adding that 鈥渃limate transformation is the security challenge of our age.鈥

Closer cooperation on renewables and green hydrogen would benefit Europe and Africa, the president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Werner Hoyer, said in early 2022. 鈥淓urope would gain access to enormous wind and solar energy resources, Africa in return would gain access to state-of-the-art energy generation technologies that could largely spare the continent the CO2 emissions and air pollution of the fossil age.鈥 Germany announced a new 鈥楢frica strategy鈥 in January, which focuses on building framework conditions to foment the creation of new jobs 鈥 especially in the areas of renewable energy, climate protection, sustainable agriculture and health 鈥 and support a socio-ecological transformation of the economy on the continent.

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