- Date: 29/06/20
- Press Release, Global Warming Policy Foundation
Today the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) is launching its Energy Justice project, seeking to highlight how reliable energy access is central to the problems of people and businesses in the developing world, and showing how it must be central to any attempts to change things for the better.
Energy Justice is centred around a new website, that will highlight our research into some of these areas through reports and videos. To kick off the project, GWPF has designated this “Energy for Africa” week.
In all the discussions about the developing world, about its poverty and its stuttering progress towards a developed future, it is all too easy to forget the ordinary people and their suffering.
So the first paper commissioned as part of the project attempts to put a human face on the question of energy access. Entitled, Heart of Darkness: Why energy poverty is a security issue, this is a deeply personal view of the problems of energy access in Sub-Saharan Africa by journalist Geoff Hill.
From blanket hawkers on the street corners of Johannesburg, to a nyaradzo – a countryside funeral, Hill shows how lack of energy blights the hopes for Africa’s people, tempting the young away from the countryside, to emigrate, or sometimes even to take up lives of crime.
Looks like GWPF is trying to inject some reality into the low access to electricity common in rural Africa. Good luck to them as they will find resistance from both the CAGW crowd and pervasive corruption.
I fear Ron is right. I worked on and off for ten years in Nigeria in the ‘seventies and the level of corruption was astronomical. Everyone was out for himself – sod the rest. Their first reaction was “What’s in it for me?” I doubt that’s much changed in the intervening forty years.
“Rather, we need to make their countries of origin a better place to live’.” The only solution to immigration to escape poverty. Energy is the key and it needs to be reliable and ubiquitous
Isn’t this the point where Griff would point out that solar power is enough for the poor villagers to have nightlights. Therefore the problem of access to energy has been solved.
Yes and Loydo would tell you that it is your responsibility to give it to them for free because they were born they have the right to a share of world resources.
Mark, About 5yrs ago, I got a taxi to the Airport driven by a PhD cabbie from India who was soon to be returning to Mumbai where he had a good job waiting for him. We have let NGO spoilers hold back development investment for decades in poor countries, harrassing mine developments and other ventures.
These countries are not putting up with this any longer and they are economically on the move. I’m glad to see this initiative from GWPF to keep these poor people aware of what kind of ‘aid’ these spoilers are peddling. India recently clamped down on Greenpeace.
https://qz.com/india/495212/timeline-how-india-cracked-down-on-greenpeace/
That’s a very good action, energy there, where energy need exists !
Gosh – something that actually helps? I’m not sure how to react.
How can this, together with Schellenbarger and Moore’s “Planet…” not be good news? Finally, reason intruding into the panic??
Africa should at the very least tell China to go get poked. Like in the South Pacific/China seas, its encroaching and no-one is paying any attention.