There are similarities between the situations—in both cases, the scientific community is offering clear warnings about what to do. Both involve public health. Climate change is already killing people in extreme heat waves and other disasters; it’s also worsening food and water shortages and it will displace hundreds of millions of people.
Africa loses $50 billion [€44.bn] a year in illicit financial flows, including tax evasion and avoidance by European companies. This is nearly double the official development assistance that sub-Saharan Africa receives.
Substantial increases in public funding are needed, particularly in the form of grants and subsidies to leverage commercial investments. It will also require stakeholders to restructure impact investments to increase the availability of patient equity, and to support initiatives that build the broader ecosystem for energy access.
Solar uptake is growing amid the need for zero-emission energy sources to fight climate change, but the flip side of the coin is an impending flood of decommissioned panels in the coming years.
The next African generation are entrepreneurs and self-starters who are resolute in their goals and ambitions: 76% want to start a business in the next five years.
Results of studies show that when striving for energy democracy, we must not overlook an important discrepancy between the roles women play as energy consumers, entrepreneurs, employees, and policy makers.
