On October 1^st, Deputy Special Envoy for Climate at the U.S. Department of State, Dr Jonathan Pershing gave a briefing after the first part of his trip to Africa and discussed the Biden Administration’s climate policy and how the U.S. is working with African countries to address climate change.

What does climate change look like today?

Dr Pershing listed a few important impacts of climate change that the world is seeing today, including the significant rise in global average temperature, the continued rise in sea levels putting coastal cities at risk of flooding, droughts across the African continent, severe weather events, flooding and erosion. Dr Pershing also highlighted the increase in disease vectors such as malaria and zoonotic diseases. He insisted that those damages are not only the problem of individual countries and that the world is set to address them together.

Africa: the continent of the future

Dr Pershing explains that the U.S. sees Africa as the fastest-growing continent, a continent that “in many ways represents of the future.” Africa is not on a similar path to that pursued by the West which was high-carbon-intensity, when it comes to innovation in telecoms, for example. Africa chose to go directly wireless and now has high penetration of mobile telephony. Dr Pershing stated that Africa could do the same thing in other sectors such as power, transport, and industrial activity. Africa can explore renewables at low prices, and it is the right time to invest massively in infrastructure. A lot of opportunities are accessible in Africa: minerals in Kenya or Namibia, forestry in both Congos, fishing in coastal nations. Dr Pershing states that the U.S. sees those resources as great opportunities not only for solving major global problems, but also for partnering with the continent for a mutual benefit.

In this perspective, U.S. companies are still investing in climate-dangerous oil and gas projects in southern Africa. When asked about regulatory frameworks aiming at stopping this sort of investments, Dr Pershing reported that the trends show that companies investing in fossil fuel are more exposed to financial risk and will hardly get loans from banks. Such investment is becoming unworthy today and betting on a fossil fuel future as an investor is no longer a smart move. In Africa, even Gabon is looking to move away from oil and gas into “zero-carbon”.

Biden’s climate pledge to developing countries

“It’s very clear that the majority of African nations contribute very, very modestly in terms of their greenhouse gas emissions but are going to bear a disproportionate share of the impacts.”, Dr Pershing stated. It has been decided that developed countries would put some of their resources into poorer countries. The U.S. envisioned to mobilize $100 billion annually. However, only about $80 billion was made available in 2019. Last April, Biden announced to double the amount of money pledged by the Obama administration, then doubled it again at the UN General Assembly in New York. Now, the U.S. is at sixfold increase in its adaptation support and is planning to work with other stakeholders including the World Bank, the Climate Investment Funds, and the USAID. Regarding Africa, the U.S. will come up with a set of programs after looking at priority problems in different parts of the continent. Partnering with local institutions and other donor countries is key to solve those identified problems.

Five African countries out of 40 invited by Biden to the climate summit last April

South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Gabon, and Nigeria were the only African countries invited to the climate summit. Dr Pershing explained that South Africa is part of the G20 discussion, and it was normal they were present. Nigeria has a huge economy and the largest population, so the largest voice in Africa. Kenya was invited for its highly ambitious strategies and interesting green bond effort. Finally, the DRC is the largest holder of tropical forest in the continent, and that represents a huge opportunity.

Considering that Biden’s agenda is currently under threat in Congress, Dr Pershing reassured that the government is pressing the Congress to move forward and there are reasons for optimism, as the bill is a critical one. He remains confident that significant resources will be mobilized to combat the threat of climate change.

Source: Digital Press Briefing with Deputy Special Envoy for Climate, Dr Jonathan Pershing, October 1, 2021.

Edited by Kenny Raharison