Energy transition must be just, equitable — OPEC

As global leaders continue in the pursuit of cleaner energy, Ambassador Gabriel Aduda, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Governor for Nigeria, has said that energy transition must be just and equitable, allowing countries to develop energy sources available to them responsibly.

Aduda, in a statement issued to BusinessDay, said that climate change enthusiasts must acknowledge fossil fuels as the fuel that aided the industrialization of advanced nations and come up with modern technologies that will further reduce emissions and not reduce production.

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“Africa must develop from the known before it can transition to the unknown. It must harness its vast natural resources and develop the same for the good of its people.

“Big brother nations must recognize that achieving set goals in energy transition, calls for deliberate and sustainable global partnerships where all nations are given a fair field of play and encouraged to develop responsibly energy sources available to them,” he said.

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Aduda made this submission during the Global Reputation Forum’s commemoration of the International Women’s Day (IWD) which gathered world leaders, dignitaries, and entrepreneurs at the House of Lords, House of Parliament Westminster, the United Kingdom.

In her remarks, Bibi Ameenah Firdaus Gurib-Fakim GCSK, former president of Mauritius said the two interwoven sustainable development fields of environmental and social needs seem to have drifted apart from the way they measure progress and should work together.

“Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said and I quote: “Today’s global challenges, from the climate crisis to growing inequality and the governance of new technology, can only be resolved
through dialogue and cooperation.”

She said with the world 6 years away from the 2030 deadline for achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), collaboration will be not only essential but critical as progress so far is nowhere near where it is needed.

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“Just 12 per cent of the targets for which data exists are on track, alone half are off track and more than one-third are either failing to advance or worse still, regressing below the baseline set in 2015.

“It is only through cross-sector, cross-industry and cross-society partnerships that we can scale the societal commitments to which we hold ourselves accountable and protect the global commons.

“So we need to explore and establish dynamic partnerships that explicitly expand our boundaries, particularly at the national and local levels where the necessary flexibility allows us to address locally relevant issues.”