Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria and member of the Africa Progress Panel, calls for ambitious, efficient and properly financed multilateral cooperation to meet Africa’s energy challenges.
Can the world prevent catastrophic climate change while building the energy systems needed to sustain growth, create jobs and lift millions of people out of poverty? That question goes to the heart of the defining development challenges of the 21st century. This year’s Africa Progress Report, Power, People, Planet: Seizing Africa’s Energy and Climate Opportunities, calls for determined leadership to answer it affirmatively. Africa (along with several other regions across the Commonwealth) is already experiencing earlier and more damaging impacts of climate change than many other parts of the world.
For some time, we have lacked the political leadership and practical policies needed to break the link between energy and emissions. The December 2015 talks in Paris on a new global climate treaty have prompted some notable forward steps from several of the world’s most influential countries. We now need to see more of such leadership across the board to truly set us on a new course…
*Statistics within article correct at original publication date of CHOGM 2015 Report.
Olusegun Obasanjo
Former President of Nigeria and member of the Africa Progress Panel
