Former UK prime minister Tony Blair has cautioned African governments not to put just transition imperatives ahead of the requirement to develop the continent and its people, urging policymakers to wrestle back the climate change debate from environmentalists.
“The immediate priority for Africa is to develop. And to develop, you need energy. Africa didn’t create the climate change problem. I am in favour of Africa doing everything it can around renewable energy, and it has a lot of potential in that space,” Blair said at the Standard Bank Africa Capital Markets conference held in Stellenbosch.
He said fossil fuels still had a role to play in Africa’s development. “You can’t say to an African country that has significant gas reserves to ignore those reserves and not develop those.
“My view on climate change ... is that it is time you took the climate change debate out of the hands of campaigners and put it in the hands of policymakers,” Blair said on Monday.
“In the end, the only solution to climate change is through technology and getting flows of finance to the developing world to invest in renewables.
“Ultimately, the solutions to climate change are not going to come from believing we can strike down fossil fuels.”
Standard Bank, one of the largest renewable funders in SA, aims to raise at least R250bn in sustainable finance origination by 2026, with a focus on renewable energy projects.
Ultimately, the solutions to climate change are not going to come from believing we can strike down fossil fuels.
— Tony Blair
Since the launch of its climate policy in March 2022, the group has been tracking ahead of its target to raise R250bn-R300bn for sustainable finance by the end of 2026.
The bank’s strategy is centred on a transition away from finance for coal-fired power, including a commitment to no further financing for the construction of new coal-fired power plants or for the further expansion of generating capacity of existing coal-fired power plants.
To this end “Big Blue”, as the lender is referred to in high finance circles due to the size of its balance sheet, wants to limit thermal coal exposures to 0.70% of group loans and advances in 2021 and 0.50% by 2030.
Standard Bank also wants to reduce group advances to upstream oil 5% by 2030. The battle between environmental activists and fossil fuel fundamentalists has been raging in SA for several years. British oil major Shell and its SA partner, Impact Oil and Gas, told the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) last year that just more than R1bn was already invested in their hunt for oil and gas off the Wild Coast, which was annulled by the high court in Makhanda in 2022 after a challenge by environmental groups.
Last year, TotalEnergies withdrew from the 5/6/7 offshore exploration block, in which it held a 40% stake. The block is on the coast between Cape Town and Cape Agulhas. The other partners in the block are Shell and PetroSA, which have interests of 40% and 20%, respectively.
Two weeks ago, mining minister Gwede Mantashe lashed out at environmental groups lobbying against oil and gas exploration off the West Coast and fracking in the Karoo, calling for more drilling and less focus on renewable energy.
He said that he was encouraged by energy companies’ exploration drilling, and that “such bold risk-taking investment will be rewarded”. Mantashe emphasised that the government is committed to the fight against “foreign-funded NGOs” that got in the way.
Mantashe, regarded as a fossil fuel fundamentalist by environmental groups, differs with government views that prioritise the diversification of SA’s energy sector to lessen the reliance on fossil fuels.
The Climate Change Act, enacted this month, enables the environment minister to set emissions targets for various sectors, such as energy and transport, as well as prescribe emission thresholds or carbon budgets at the company level.
With Jacob Webster
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