Energy Justice and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Access to energy is a catalyst for development anywhere in the world. In Africa, energy poverty has been a major constraint, not just for economic development but also increasingly for trade. These constraints can only be addressed if there is access to energy, closing the energy gap. More than 600 million Africans have no access to energy, resulting in diminished industrialization. The acceleration of the global momentum towards sustainability and away from fossil fuel is well recognized, as demonstrated in COP26's explicit reference. However, what is not well understood nor supported is the need to ensure that the world's poorest citizens, many of whom live in resource-rich countries, are not left behind.

Most Oil Rich Sub-Saharan African (ORSSA) economies are highly exposed to the global energy transition, as their economies depend on oil and gas revenues. Nigeria and Angola, for example, get 90 percent of government revenue and up to 70 percent of foreign exchange from the oil and gas sector; therefore, the industry cannot be banned suddenly.

The energy mix of renewables and non-renewables will help boost Africa's industrial base, aiding in achieving a just energy transition. However, it is noted that the transition to clean energy must not come at the expense of Africa's economic development. Furthermore, African governments are spending between 5-11 percent of their GDPs to adapt to climate impacts.

With the increasing rate of famine, drought across regions, and rising conflict borne out of the climate crisis as neighboring communities fight for scarce resources, African development is at risk. The continent's commitment, despite a historical and current carbon emissions contribution below 3 percent, to reducing carbon emissions is commendable. However, Africa faces a unique challenge in accessing modern energy to fulfill its development needs, including building climate resilience. A just energy transition for Africa means the continent gets its space to develop. The transition must be just, fair, and equitable. Africa needs energy to close the gap in terms of income and welfare between the region and the rest of the world for global convergence. African resources should be used for developing African economies and growth, unlike in the past, when the bulk of the resources were taken and used to develop the Global North. A just energy transition will not be uniform across the continent owing to different resource endowments and the differentiated economic power and needs of individual nations.

There is growing recognition that achieving just transitions requires widespread, inclusive, and democratic deliberation due to the trade-offs required and the diversity of objectives, views, and pathways involved. Yet, traditional models of participatory decision-making and transition options often draw from experiences of the Global North where the key assumptions do not apply to the Global South. The key assumptions include the existence of a strong and well-resourced state able to provide retraining and compensation, an engaged and responsive private sector, a well-organized labor movement, and spaces where an informed and capacitated civil society can meaningfully engage without fear of violence. Few ORSSA countries meet such requirements. Yet, the fundamental shift in their economic and development models implied by energy transitions will not be possible without an active and informed debate between citizens and policymakers: a reimagining of just transition through open and inclusive dialogue.

The Concept of Justice in Sustainable Energy Transition

The historical responsibility of different countries for climate change is at the heart of debates over climate justice and is deeply rooted in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Article 3.1 states that "The Parties should protect the climate system for the benefit of present and future generations of humankind, based on equity and by their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. Accordingly, the developed country Parties should take the lead in combating climate change and the adverse effects thereof." This means adherence to the principle of a just energy transition requires consideration of past emissions and how they shape future emissions trajectories.

Energy justice is defined as "a global energy system that fairly distributes both the benefits and burdens of energy services and one that contributes to more representative and inclusive energy decision-making." Energy justice also refers to the goal of achieving equity in both social and economic participation in the energy system while remediating social, economic, and health burdens on those historically harmed by the energy system. The concept of energy justice is concerned with decisions and agreements on who bears the cost and burden of energy transition. It has emerged as an agenda to include more social science-related disciplines within energy research. It argues for a refocus of energy discussions on people rather than resources, technology, or prices, revealing how much the energy intensity of communities and lifestyles varies. Energy justice has predominantly been framed in terms of access to affordable energy and fuel poverty, as well as the politics of energy infrastructures. However, a true energy system transition requires thinking and operating differently in terms of new technology as well as proactive and collaborative decision-making processes.

The issue of energy justice is of inherent concern to the Global South (GS), especially Africa, compared to Global North (GN) countries. The call for all green energy may be viewed as a form of energy injustice to Africa (especially ORSSA) due to the enormous structure of the region. With countries like China and India using coal to increase their energy production, the United States is allowed to pull out of the Paris Agreement, and the use of nuclear by Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea, Africa should be allowed to use its natural endowment for development. Alternative energy must not only be renewable but also sustainable and a better substitute for fossil fuel in terms of cost and environmental impact; natural gas fits into this description. Currently, Africa has the least financial and technical ability as an investment, and these present key limitations to achieving the United Nations SDGs within the stipulated period. This paper supports the notion for ORSSA countries to convert flared gases from waste to significant economic fortune for achieving their energy transition goals while developing strategies for a possible all-green energy future.

Another type of justice argued for is environmental justice. This embodies distributive, procedural, and justice as recognition. Distributive justice focuses on the distribution of environmental goods, costs, and benefits. As much as direct environmental burdens or benefits are important, other intersecting dimensions such as vulnerability, need, and responsibility are also to be considered. Distributional justice also addresses questions of access to resources and opportunities that are deemed critical to redress social injustices. Procedural justice, on the other hand, is about inclusion and exclusion in decision-making processes around environmental and social issues. Procedural injustices occur when environmental information is unavailable, as well as when there is exclusion and inequity about public participation in policy, decision-making, and access to the formal justice system. This calls for the need for the GS to be included as key stakeholders in climate change and transition global policies as well as the inclusion of society in the development of energy policies at regional and national levels.

Climate change has the capacity "to compound existing vulnerabilities such as poverty, loss of biodiversity or degradation" as seen in GS. However, climate change responsibility and vulnerability are not equally distributed, and vulnerability relates to political-economic processes. Policies to mitigate or adapt to climate change may create unfair outcomes, further exacerbating, maintaining, or ignoring inequalities as seen in ORSSA. Therefore, there exists the potential for climate change challenges to impact governance and decision-making processes from a sustainability perspective. Pursuing climate justice intra- and intergenerationally, in a socially just way in a highly unequal world, will mean having to address 'energy justice' for the 1.6 billion people worldwide without access to electricity, which is essential to development. It will also mean addressing the energy injustice that characterizes the distribution of harm and benefit within the current fossil fuel-dependent global economy.

Energy, Development, and a Just Transition in Africa

Energy transition in much of ORSSA is less about moving to renewables than about providing electricity where currently none exists. During the last decade, a larger share of the world's population gained access to electricity than ever before, except in sub-Saharan Africa, where it decreased. The global access to electricity deficit is increasingly concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa, with over half of the region's population without access to regular electricity. A significant proportion of households continue to rely on conventional forms of energy as their primary source of energy for cooking. Africa is home to one-sixth of the global population, yet the continent accounts for less than 6% of global energy consumption and produces only 2% of global emissions. Moreover, since the 1980s, the rate of population growth has outpaced the growth of installed electricity capacity and connections, with roughly 140 million more people without access to electricity in 2019 than in 1990. The continent faces a parallel imperative of providing electricity access to millions of citizens currently deprived of it and the need to align with the global transition to a net-zero future.

Therefore, ORSSA policymakers face a challenging dilemma. Modern energy holds a pivotal role in facilitating the speed and degree of structural transformation. In advanced economies (GN), average per capita consumption levels have surged to unprecedented heights, propelling their industrialization and ultimately helping achieve high levels of prosperity. A strong correlation exists between GDP per capita and modern energy consumption in the form of electricity across a wide range of countries. India and China (emerging economies) have driven most of the energy growth of the last 15 years, while some GN countries have witnessed a peak in per capita and even total energy demand. Energy use follows a linear path during the lower stages of economic development and then plateaus as countries achieve higher affluence. However, the global move to the electrification of energy systems is changing this pattern. The shift to enhanced digitization of end-use technologies and transport based on electricity is bound to drive up electricity consumption.

There is, therefore, the complex challenge of expanding electricity provision to all as well as building a sustainable energy system based on a highly efficient and resilient power sector in ORSSA economies. Energy is an important contributor to human development and key for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Electricity consumption is highly correlated with the Human Development Index (HDI), with a notable exponential slope, suggesting that electricity is particularly important for attaining broader socioeconomic development. The positive relationship between electricity consumption and development is strongly correlated at low levels of energy use, as seen in ORSSA countries with an HDI score of less than 0.8. The relationship levels off at an HDI score of higher than 0.8 (mainly GN) because these countries tend to minimize energy intensity and maximize energy efficiency, suggesting that even small increments in energy services amount to a proportionately more significant impact on well-being.

The HDI, on the one hand, shows a strong association with climate vulnerability, readiness, and climate resilience on the other. Climate vulnerability scores and HDI scores generally have an inverse relationship, while the climate readiness score is positively associated with the HDI score. Most ORSSA countries still rely heavily on traditional and inefficient biomass to meet their energy needs despite the continent being rich and diverse in primary energy resources (renewable and non-renewable). ORSSA countries remain energy-poor, unable to harness their enormous energy potential to meet their socio-economic development challenges. Sub-Saharan Africa's per capita consumption of modern forms of energy is much lower than that of any other global region. While its per capita consumption was on par with China's in 1970, it was less than a fifth of China's in 2019. Energy consumption inequality has fallen for many regions of the world over the last 40 years, except in sub-Saharan Africa. This energy poverty in ORSSA countries underscores the critical need for a fair and just energy transition that balances development needs with global sustainability goals.