Christian Aid has described Africa’s announcement at the United Nations Climate Change Summit (COP21) that it will create the capacity for 300 million gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2030 as ‘game changing’. Africa’s current total energy output is 150GW.
The African Renewable Energy Initiative is designed to create a low carbon energy system for the continent and enhance energy security. It is aiming to create 10GW of new and additional renewable energy generation capacity by 2020 with the potential to generate 300 GW by 2030.
‘This is an exceptional moment in Africa’s history, I am proud to see Africa, despite its current low emissions, lead the world in realising these easily available and under utilised natural resources. Increased access to renewable energy will drastically increase the well-being of energy-poor Africans,’ commented Mohamed Adow, Christian Aid’s Senior Climate Advisor.