It's the energy, stupid

People around the world are suffering from two huge and overlapping problems: the rising cost of living and the consequences of rapidly rising temperatures.

In the Horn of Africa, 22 million people are at risk of starvation, as a result of four consecutive years of drought and rising world grain prices.

Adding insult to injury, rising fuel prices – exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine – are bringing communities and businesses across Africa to the brink of collapse.

And in Europe, after a summer of record heat, a very difficult winter is approaching, since the high cost of gas will make access to energy more expensive for the entire population.

It is true that when dealing with global problems that manifest themselves differently in different regions, one must be careful not to oversimplify, but one cannot overlook the fact that these simultaneous food, energy and cost crises of life have a single root: our energy system dependent on fossil fuels no longer works.

The oil and gas industry has been saying for many years that its products are the fastest path to cheap energy and economic development.

But this claim has been refuted time and time again.

Decades of development based on fossil fuels have failed to benefit the 600 million people (and growing) in sub-Saharan Africa who still lack access to energy.

Without a substantial increase in public and private financing from advanced economies, the global transition to a better energy system will not be possible.

Fossil fuel prices are inherently volatile, and when large fluctuations occur in global hydrocarbon markets, vulnerable communities bear the brunt.

In the United Kingdom, the increase in gas prices registered this year is expected to increase household energy bills by 80%.

In the coming months, many low-income families will have to choose between heating and eating.

Meanwhile, companies dedicated to the production of fuels such as BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Total and Shell pocketed profits of 59,000 million dollars (a little more than 57,000 million euros) only in the second quarter of this year.

To top it off, the pain that many are already feeling this year will be nothing to what awaits us if we continue to burn fossil fuels.

A few months ago, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that if we want to avoid catastrophic warming scenarios, we must stop building infrastructure for fossil fuels now and accelerate the energy transition.

For his part, the director of the International Energy Agency declared in 2021: “If governments take the climate crisis seriously, there can be no new investment in oil, gas and coal, as of right now, as of this year".

It would be crazy to think that this accumulation of world crises can be solved with the current energy systems.

If investment in infrastructure projects and fossil fuel exploration continues, the result will be more suffering and uncertainty for families, more concentration of profits and wealth, and unbearable weather conditions for billions of people.

But it is what is happening: the OECD and the International Energy Agency (IEA) report that in 2021, public subsidies to fossil fuels worldwide have almost doubled, to the figure of 69.7 billion dollars (67,000 million of euros).

The simultaneous food, energy and cost-of-living crises have a single root: our fossil fuel-dependent energy system is no longer working.

If we want a reliable, clean and cheap energy supply for the whole world, the quickest and most effective solution is to increase investment in renewable sources, energy efficiency and integrated distribution networks.

Wind and solar electricity generation is already cheaper than gas generation, and its prices do not experience dangerous fluctuations.

In the UK, where successive governments have not led the way in building capacity in the area of ​​renewables, it is individuals who take it upon themselves to install solar panels on their homes, knowing that the investment will be offset by savings on energy bills.

Renewable sources are also a faster and cheaper way to expand access to energy in rural areas of Africa.

Because they can be closer to the point of consumption, they are more economically viable than running transmission lines from centralized gas-fired power plants.

In the search for the systemic change we need, it is not enough that the governments of developed countries pay for their own energy transition, they must also collaborate more with that of the Global South.

The International Renewable Energy Agency calculates that to ensure universal access to clean energy, Africa will need an annual investment of 70,000 million dollars (67,000 million euros).

More broadly, large-scale investments in solar supply chains will be needed to reduce the reliance many countries have on China, which has become another major source of economic risk as supply disruption triggers spikes. of prices.

Prior to COP26 last November, much was said about the global climate finance gap.

But the promise made by rich countries in 2009 to provide developing countries with at least $100 billion a year, with a deadline of 2020, has yet to be fulfilled.

Without a substantial increase in public and private financing from advanced economies, the global transition to a better energy system will not be possible.

Since these investments will benefit everyone, it is necessary for the Global North, development aid banks and private institutions to seize the opportunity that COP27 gives them.

Companies dedicated to the production of fuels pocketed profits of more than 50,000 million euros only in the second quarter of this year

The cost-of-living and energy crisis affects people around the world – from the north of England and northern Uganda to Florida and Pakistan, which is still not recovering from the catastrophic flooding it suffered this year.

Over time, investments in resilience and clean energy will pay for themselves, as opposed to those that only bring profits to a few multinationals and rogue, warmongering states.

If we do not seize the opportunity, democratic paralysis, rising inequality, social unrest, and other deepening structural and systemic problems are likely to worsen.

But by making the right decisions today, we can create the conditions for a more stable, equal and prosperous future.

Vanessa Nakate

is a Ugandan climate justice activist.

Rachel Kyte, a former United Nations climate envoy, is dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University.

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