African countries must leverage on technology and nature-based solutions to combat climate change – Jinapor

Samuel A. Jinapor, MP, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, has appealed to African countries to leverage technological innovations as a means to bolster global initiatives aimed at fostering climate resilience, noting that this approach is crucial in fortifying the environment against the adverse effects of climate change.

Delivering an address at the Africa Energy Technology Conference on Wednesday, 13th March 2024, Jinapor reinforced his absolute belief in the potential of technological advancement in ensuring efficiency and reducing waste in the harnessing of natural resources, thereby contributing to global efforts toward the building of a resilient climate.

Speaking on the theme “Advancing Energy Technologies for a Sustainable Future: Mitigating Climate Change, Protecting Environment, and Safeguarding Public Health,’ the Lands Minister expressed the conviction and expectation that the conference will help expedite efforts towards the diversification of the energy mix of African countries which will culminate in the reliance on green energy.

“To get the best out of these minerals to support the energy transition, we need to adopt innovative measures for their exploitation to underpin broad-based sustainable growth and socio-economic development while contributing to the fight against climate change. It is by harnessing the power of innovation that we can maximise efficiency, reduce waste, and create knowledge-driven mining and energy sectors”, he said.

“It is by the power of technology that we can address the historical environmental and social challenges associated with mining, promote energy efficiency and build a circular economy. And it is through innovation that we can increase production and add more value to the minerals we produce to support this energy transition,” he added.

The Minister disclosed that the government, through the implementation of the Green Minerals Policy has set course towards the sustainable and environment-friendly exploitation of resources while also playing a role in the transition and evolution of green energy.

He accentuated that the drive towards green energy affords African leaders a unique platform to use technology, innovation and value addition to develop their respective countries.

“Ghana, under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo, has adopted a Green Minerals Policy, which aims at promoting value addition and beneficiation across the value chain of our green minerals, while contributing, substantially, to the green energy transition. We are, also, promoting, through this Policy, local content and local participation across the value chain of our green minerals, from exploration, through mining to downstream production, to ensure that Ghanaians, who are by our national Constitution, the owners of these minerals, benefit optimally from them.”

He, however, stated that while technological advancement are playing its part, governments can through the implementation of nature-based climate action as evidenced by Ghana’s policies such as the Green Ghana Project help attenuate the impact of climate change.

“While some technologies are being developed to reduce emissions in these areas, they are not yet market-ready. According to the IEA, half of the global emission reduction technologies needed to reach net zero are not yet on the market. Rapid innovation is, therefore, needed to bring to market clean technologies, in particular, for those parts of the energy system where emissions are harder to address, such as heavy industry and long-distance transport.

“But even as we continue to develop these technologies, we must, also, pay particular attention to those other mitigating factors that are not too difficult to achieve, such as nature-based climate action. While technologies for carbon capture and storage continue to evolve, forests and other nature-based solutions have proven to be a more cost-effective means of carbon sequestration,” he said.

The Africa Energy Technology Conference is Africa’s premiere energy technology-driven exhibition and networking conference that seeks to create a distinctive platform for key stakeholders and industry players within the energy ecosystem as part of making Africa the ultimate destination for global energy-centered discussions and policies that propel industry development.