Rose Muto - clean energy researcher

Africa must be prioritized when it comes to what's left in the carbon budget.

For three main reasons:

1. First Africa isn't the culprit of climate change. It's a victim, facing the worst impacts of extreme weather, drought and heat. Yet forty-eight African countries combined are responsible for less than one percent of a cumulative carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
2. Second, Africa needs more energy to fight climate change because of its climate vulnerability. Africa's climate fight is about adaptation and resilience, and climate adaptation is energy intensive. To respond to extreme weather, Africans will need more resilient infrastructure (to cope with drought/pumped irrigation for agriculture/ desalination for fresh wate/cold storage and AC)
3. Third, preventing African development in the name of the climate creates a two-tier global energy system with "energy abundance for the rich and tiny solar lamps for Africans."