Achieving economic success without increasing greenhouse emission
The extractive sector is a leading economic development
source for most developed and developing resource rich countries.
However, this sector contributes greatly to the environmental
management challenges resulting to increase in global emissions of greenhouse
and climate change effects.
Adnan Adams Mohammed therefore analysis global and
regional climate change policies and actions and the activities contributing to
worsening situation of climate change and greenhouse emissions.
The rise of green energy technologies required for a
low-carbon future is expected to lead to significant growth in demand for a
wide range of minerals and metals, such as aluminum, copper, lead, lithium, manganese,
nickel, silver, steel, and zinc and rare earth minerals, according to a new
World Bank report, “The Growing Role of Minerals and Metals for a Low-Carbon
Future.”
The report indicates that this would open a new window of
opportunities in the extractive sector for resource rich countries.
This calls for appropriate strategies and investments in
the extractive sector to ensure that they benefit fully.
There has been a global concern for the world to reduce
global warming by 2 Degree Celcius in order to meet the 2015 Paris Climate
Agreement.
Furthermore, many developing countries lack geographical
data on good geographical data on mineral deposits. There is the need to
develop geographical mapping in these areas. Africa has not rare data for the
continent’s deposits of minerals and metals.
In addition, efforts by countries to exploit these
resource come with environmental challenges that might derail the chances of
meeting the global target of fighting climate change.
Careful planning should be put in place to ensure that
communities, ecosystem are not destroyed
According to the world economic forum, an efficient solar
cell has been developed that keeps power up to 45% level than previously. This
has made a stronger argument for green technologies going to the future.
The International Energy Agency (EIA) projects that solar
energy become the world’s largest source of energy by 2050 due to its falling
cost and increasing convenience
Solar energy can help us reduce our reliance on fossil
fuel, which we need desperately need to do as our net emission of 37 gigatonnes
of CO2 per year are causing destruction on the planet, causing global warming,
extreme weather events, and many death
Now, the raw materials for these solar panels and cells
are gotten from the extractive sectors. So how would the extractive sector
contribute to a low-carbon future?
This calls for tradeoffs between developing these natural
resources and the need to fight climate change and the allocation of financial
resources. Resource rich countries would argue they need it to develop their
economies and the argument for a low carbon future.
Are there other ways to reducing greenhouse emission than
switching to low-carbon energy future?
The World steel association agrees that it produces CO2
into the atmosphere thereby causing global warming, it has come out with an
improved steel that produces less CO2. More so, it is easily recycled in order
to avoid the impact on the environment.
According to the UNEP, building account for 45% of global
Greenhouse emissions. There are partially abatement options in the use of
energy in lighting, heating and ventilation and the use of appliances.
Buildings are currently concentrated in the cities: Urban
populations are about 50% of the world’s population and make up 75% of
greenhouse effect (GHE), according to Arup Associates.
The IEA also projects that in order to half global GHE 2C
energy efficiency would have to pay a huge role in that respect. Multiple
energy efficiency methods would have come in building and the transport
sectors.
Changing vehicle make up and the materials used to
manufacture the car could save energy and generally switching from the use of
diesel to the use of electric cars whose parts would be made of minerals.
The C40 Fossil-Fuel-Free Street Declaration, the
pioneering city leaders pledged to procure only zero-emission buses from 2025
and ensure that major area of their city is zero emission by 2030.
This an initiative by the mayors of these big cities
meeting the sustainable development goals. How can developing countries
replicate such a move to ensure their cities area also emission free?
China is leading the way in renewable energy development
thereby driving toward low carbon energy future. Ghana recently entered into a
deal with China to mine bauxite in Ghana worth $460m at the current market
price to unlock about $15billion of money from China to finance infrastructures
in the country.
Ghana according to the Ghana News Agency has proven
reserves of about 2.8billion metric tonnes of iron ore, 160 million metric
tonnes of bauxite; 430 million metric tons of manganese and 430 metric tons of
limestone excluding gold and oil. (GNA, 2017).This would help China in its
renewable energy development drive.
The indigenes protested against this move by the
government to use the Atiwa forest reserves for the mining of bauxite. The
question is, should we leave it underground and not exploit it for economic
development? I do think we should approach the exploitation with an
environmentally and
Community-based
strategy that would be mutually beneficial to the country. The communities
would not be worse off and the country would also benefit.
There are two points of view regarding the extraction of
natural resources being held by naturalists. The first point of view believes
that the exploitation of natural resource is vital for development due to the
fact that it brings about changes which promote economic growth. The other
school of thought sees it exploitation that leads to the impoverishment of the
indigenes and does not promote economic growth and development, this is totally
different from what the first group believes. They said it exploitation leads
to what they term the resource “curse’’.
These different views being held by them are based on the
observation that natural resourced endowed countries such as Norway and
Botswana have steadily grown in their economic growth path. However, other
countries without natural resource also undergo dynamic economic growth. A
third group, notwithstanding their continued exploitation of the resource,
experienced stagnant growth path and sometimes experienced negative growth in
times past.
We in Africa should exploit our natural resources to
develop our economies and leave the debate of climate change to the developed
economies.
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