UN wants carbon tax to finance Africa’s energy transition

The United Nations has advocated for a tax on carbon dioxide from fossil fuels used in air and maritime transport to generate additional funds to finance Africa’s energy transition.

“When combined with other policy measures, a carbon tax can help mitigate those residual emissions that cannot be addressed through markets for carbon credits, subsidies and technology,” said Claver Gatete, executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

Speaking at the 10th African Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, which concluded on Friday in Addis Ababa, Gatete said the measure could allow countries to “improve their response to their commitments to help reduce climate instability.”

“Renewable energy and carbon sinks from forests and other ecosystems have enormous potential that should be harnessed to generate additional income and build a green and blue economy that is resilient to climate and climate disasters,” said Claver Gatete.

Using nature-based solutions could save African countries up to $82 billion (about 76.5 billion euros) annually, he said in his speech at the closing of the meeting.

Various solutions for financing economic development and the energy transition were highlighted at the Forum, where UNECA joined several partners to present ideas that will be presented at the Future Summit, scheduled for September in New York, to shape the energy transition. in Africa and reform of the global financial architecture.

According to the Forum’s final declaration, “the summit must ensure timely reform of global financial institutions and their architecture to make them useful and capable of serving the interests of Africa and developing countries in the rest of the world.”

Regional Director of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Akhunna Eziakonwa, in her address at the meeting, stressed the importance of achieving synergies with other agencies to ensure effective and sustainable action to combat climate change.

“Implementing a carbon tax requires science-based analysis and engagement with stakeholders, including policymakers, investors and civil society organizations,” he said after the African Union Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Industry and Minerals agreed to create a carbon tax. carbon emissions.

According to Albert Muchanga, the implementation of this measure is “crucial to addressing the climate crisis” in the context of integrating African economies, mostly small and fragmented, into a continental transition to a green economy that also takes advantage of the benefits of a free trade agreement. .

The announcements from decision-makers at the Forum come at the same time as the creation of the Critical Minerals for the Energy Transition Panel, announced on Friday by UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

“A world driven by renewable energy is a world hungry for critical minerals; for developing countries, these critical minerals represent a fundamental opportunity to create jobs, diversify their economies and increase their incomes, if managed correctly,” he said, a former Portuguese. Prime Minister.

At stake are minerals that are increasingly sought after for the production of batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines or solar panels, including copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and others, which exist in abundance in Africa.

Twenty-three countries or groups of countries have already joined the group, including the European Union (EU) and the African Union, as well as the United States and China, as well as 15 non-governmental and multilateral organizations.