By NATION REPORTER
THE World-Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature Zambia has expressed confidence that a transition away from fossil fuels will spur the demand for Electric Vehicles and investment in battery powered storage systems.
WWF Zambia Country Director Nachilala Nkombo, pointed out that such investments were also expanding the deployment of solar and wind energy.
Ms Nkombo noted that pursuing a green agenda would have wider ripple effects on the economies of the various countries.
She also implored African countries to heighten the monitoring of emissions, impact and upgrade production towards zero emissions and minimised environmental impacts and social risks.
She said this in Lusaka during a stakeholders’ engagement on fostering environmentally and socially responsible decarbonised, inclusive and transformative value chains for energy transition minerals in the Southern African Development Community region.
“A transition away from fossil fuels will spur the demand for Electric Vehicles and investment in battery-powered storage systems, which is expanding the deployment of solar and wind energy,” Ms Nkombo said.
She said expanding the renewable energy base would provide not only the needed power for energy intensive mining and manufacturing but would serve to expand access the 650 million Africans lacking such as access.
“This nexus of environmental and social aspirations is at the heart Kofi global progress toward the SDGs, and regionally towards agenda 2063 of the African Union,” she said.
Ms Nkombo noted that the world was drastically shifting its sources of energy to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
She said Africa in general and SADC countries in particular were key sources of many energy transition minerals like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which produced over 70 percent of the world’s cobalt.
“DRC and Zambia each produce five percent of the global Copper supply. Zimbabwe holds significant Lithium reserves, South Africa is a major producer of Platinum group metals and Manganese, Mozambique produces Graphite,” Ms Nkombo said.
She said a key priority for African countries, policy makers, mining communities, and citizens was that the boom served the continent’s aspirations for inclusive and sustainable growth and transformation.
Ms Nkombo also emphasised the need for the global response to the energy crisis to also link directly with environmental, social and economic aspirations of the Sustainable Development Goals.
She said this should also prioritise the eradication of poverty, empowerment of women and reduction of global inequalities.
