Africa's growing economy and reliance on carbon-emitting energy from wood and charcoal could "exponentially" worsen global warming unless the continent steps up its investment in wind, solar and hydro power, the head of a new international energy agency said Friday.
The key to ramping up renewable energy resources is to develop a regulatory framework to convince institutional investors it's safe to put their money into these cutting-edge technologies, Adnan Amin told nearly 30 African energy and foreign affairs ministers at the start of a two-day meeting.
"If Africa continues to grow at pace it is growing and intensifies that growth and uses only carbon-emitting forms of energy, it will exponentially change the picture on climate change and make it much worse," said Amin, a Kenyan who is director general of the International Renewable Energy Agency.
There is a global push to reduce dependence on traditional forms of energy like oil and coal as part of efforts to combat global warming and keep temperatures from rising more than 3.8 degrees Fahrenheit (2 Celsius) above preindustrial-era levels. Such a rise could have a catastrophic effect on the climate. Until now, Africa has largely been left on the sidelines of discussions about climate change, mostly because its poor nations only use 5 percent of the world's energy.
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