Power Shift Africa is a climate & energy think tank providing policy analysis, advocacy & communications from an African perspective.Founding Director:
@mohadow
Resurgence: Climate Adaptation Stories from Africa ✍️
PROTECTING LAND RIGHTS IN UGANDA’S FARMING COMMUNITY
At the heart of East Africa in Uganda 🇺🇬 where generations have dwelled, communities’ lives are inseparable from the land.
Check it out:
🧵👇
Is Italy’s $6bn plan for Africa just PR-friendly
#neocolonialism
?
"Neocolonial plans in 2024 come dressed up in PR-proof rhetoric with descriptions like “not predatory, not paternalistic, but not charitable either”. -
@FadhelKaboub
👇
@africaarguments
Africa must take charge of its
#Climate
,
#development
destiny
Any plan for
#Africa
's development must prioritise decolonisation and systemic change.
✍️ by Ignatius Juma
🧵1/2.....
Solar
#GeoEngineering
🚨
Geoengineering encompasses a range of speculative technologies intended to address the effects, not the root causes, of
#climatechange
.
#Africa
must refuse to be a dumping ground for dangerous technologies.
Agricultural adaptation: Solarising farms for food security
For generations, the arid and wild expanse of Wajir County in Kenya has been a graze land for livestock of the local pastoral community.
By solarising boreholes & irrigating farms, however, the vast wilderness is now
Climate
#Adaptation
Stories from Africa ✍
Mobile
#irrigation
technology driving
#foodsecurity
and
#resilience
For one farming community in the foothills of Mount Elgon in Mbale, Uganda 🇺🇬, mobile irrigation unlocked food security and agribusiness. Here, fields are lush, food
Why Africa’s
#adaptation
battle fell short at
#COP28
"Although
#COP28
established the global goal for adaptation, the overall outcome is a mixed bag that matches neither the urgency nor the gravity of adaptation for developing countries." - Amy Thorp
🧵
Fadhel Kaboub, Senior Advisor,
@PowerShftAfrica
:
"
#Carbonmarket
projects often amount to greenwashing fraud and do little to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is one of the most disturbing
#climatefinance
false solutions and dangerous distractions."
@FadhelKaboub
"Gender equality is essential for environmental sustainability and
#climateresilience
. They go hand in hand. When
#women
thrive, humanity and the climate thrive." ~ Ignatius Juma, Adaptation and Resilience Associate,
@PowerShftAfrica
📌
#SaveTheDate
‼️📢
Power Shift Africa will host an X Spaces that will explore how "economic restrictions" by IMF and the World Bank hamper growth and consign people in poor countries to suffering.
🗓️: 30th April 2024
⏲️: 5:30pm - 7:30pm (EAT)
🔗:
🧵..
HOW IMF FAILS WORKERS IN KENYA 🇰🇪,
#AFRICA
‼️📢: 👇
✅ Increased cost of living
✅ Low minimum wage
✅Increased taxation
✅Withdrawal of critical government programs
✅Harsh austerity measures
✅Minimal employee benefits
✍️by
@JamesKahongeh_
Vanessa Nakate: "The success of
#COP28
will not depend on speeches on big stages, new promises on top of old, broken ones but on whether leaders have the courage to call for a just and equitable phase-out of all
#fossilfuels
without excuses or exceptions.”
@vanessa_vash
Standing on the precipice of a
#climatecrisis
, denying the need to phase out
#fossilfuels
at
#COP28
is not just unacceptable. It is a blatant disregard for scientific consensus and the very future of our planet.
Read more: ✍️ by
@dpcarrington
🧵 👇
Mohamed Adow, Director,
@PowerShftAfrica
:
"COP29 which will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, will focus on mobilising finance that is needed to tackle
#climatechange
.
African leaders have 12 months to get their act together and come up with a strategy for ensuring we get the most
As the dust settles on the
#AfricaClimateSummit23
, Africans are starting to realise that they have, once again, been swindled. The summit in
#Nairobi
, Kenya, was a diplomatic setback, a mishit on the negotiation front and a miscarriage in terms of the outcome. 🧵1/11👇
THE AFRICA CARBON MARKETS INITIATIVE: A WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING
Read full report:
#Carboncredits
are, essentially, pollution permits – an imaginary commodity created to benefit the wealthy, not the climate. 🧵1/3
#AfricaClimateSummit23
#ClimateCrisis
Our key demands 📢‼️
To initiate a meaningful dialogue ahead, during and after the summit, the following must be prioritised: 👇
✅ The inclusion of community and CSO voices in the global
#cleancooking
discourse
✅ Increase financial and technological flow for clean cooking
Carbon markets take away power from local communities
They are designed to hand power to self-serving global elites who are not only responsible for triggering the
#climatecatastrophe
through emissions but are also out of touch with the reality of anguish by these communities.
Why Climate Adaptation?
#Adaptation
solutions in
#Africa
, such as
#agroecology
for food security and multiple
#indigenous
knowledge systems, offer context-specific solutions based on local realities.
These have historically enhanced the resilience of Africa communities.
Lorraine Chiponda to African Leaders at
#COP28
📢:
"Do not sign any new deals on
#oilandgas
. This
#COP28
should emphasise the need to expand
#renewableenergy
access in
#Africa
.
Do not gas Africa. Do not expand these projects on our continent."
🧵 1/2
Power Shift Africa's Weekly News Briefing ✍️
Read and Subscribe 👉:
The outcomes of
#COP28
continue to divide opinion globally, one week after the event ended in Dubai.
This year’s COP delivered an ‘‘unprecedented’’ deal touching on
#fossilfuels
,
The Africa Carbon Markets Initiative builds in double counting of carbon.
It assumes the offset market will expand over time. It also claims that it will help to “achieve
#netzero
emissions” for African countries. This is double counting. This built-in double counting explicitly
"The Global South is not a treasure chest for plunder. We deserve systems that are fit-for-purpose, not extractive & exploitative."
Amos Wemanya of
@PowerShftAfrica
talks to
@DubaiEye1038FM
"We need to settle the terms of
#LossAndDamage
fund. It is painful to see the Global North asking us to increase borrowing to build resilience infrastructure for something that we didn't course. This is unacceptable and a crime against humanity. ~
@miaamormottley
#UNGA78
Carbon markets promote greenwashing and climate lies.
Voluntary
#carbonmarkets
are the centerpiece of a massive effort by polluting corporations to greenwash their activities, to falsely claim their activities are consistent with a “
#netzero
” future, while continuing or
#Carbonmarkets
risk undermining
#landrights
, farming,
#foodsecurity
and has multiple undesirable consequences for local communities.
Planting new forests for
#carboncredits
requires land, as does flooding valleys for new hydro-power projects. 🧵1/3👇
PRESSER BY THE AFRICAN MINISTERS ON THE STATUS OF NEGOTIATIONS AT
#COP28
"WE ARE DISAPPOINTED! "
" We are concerned about the lack of progress on various issues of importance to our group, particularly on
#finance
and
#adaptation
." ~
@CollinsNzovu
@AGNChairUNFCCC
Watch 👇
.
@mohadow
: "The decarbonisation of the global economy is one of the most impressive and challenging things we humans have ever undertaken. Some leaders seem to think it can be done by just changing the lightbulbs, but it can't. If it was that easy we would have done it already."
Investing in carbon markets is to shift the goal post of emissions reduction
To assume that
#carbonmarkets
will exist in the 2050s is to surrender to and accept
#climatebreakdown
. It is to resign to the fate of failure by carbon markets to achieve the desired
#climatetargets
.
The Africa Carbon Markets Initiative did not originate from Africa.
Rather, it was sponsored by the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), Sustainable Energy for ALL (SEforALL) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). It is not a solution by
Mohamed Adow: " It’s understandable if the
#COP28
host and other
#fossilfuel
nations are feeling the heat on this issue.
#Fossilfuels
are the elephant in the room and these countries can’t go on trying to pretend they are not a problem.
Read more:
Lidy Nacpil of
@AsianPeoplesMvt
:
"We, in the Global South, firmly emphasise that the delivery of
#climatefinance
is not a mere act of charity or assistance. It is a fundamental obligation owed to us. A long-overdue debt that must be settled."
@lnacpil
#COP28UAE
The top 5 most food-secure countries in the world are in the Global North. Specifically in Europe.
These nations have the best food farming technology and agricultural policies in the world......🧵1/2
#FoodSecurity
#WorldFoodDay
Should
#Africa
celebrate or mourn
#COP28
?
Mohamed Adow of
@PowerShftAfrica
:
"For the first time in three decades of climate negotiations the words
#fossilfuels
have made it into a
#COP
outcome. We are finally naming the elephant in the room.
Read:
The six pillars of food security 🫛🌽🫘
🟢 Availability: This relates to the supply of food through production, distribution, and exchange.
🟢 Access: This refers to the affordability of food, as well as the preferences of individuals and households.......🧵
#WorldFoodDay2023
AFRICA CLIMATE VOICES. 🎙
On this episode, Harjeet Singh (
@harjeet11
) of
@CANintl
, discusses Africa's priority for
#LossandDamage
at
#COP28
and what will constitute a good outcome for the continent.
Listen 🎧 & Subscribe 👉:
SAVE THE DATE!
We're excited to be hosting yet another powerful meeting of minds. Are you ready?
Power Shift Africa will host a
#TwitterSpaces
on Financing Africa's
#ClimateAdaptation
on 3rd September 2024 at 5:30PM EAT and we hope to see you there.
Link:
.
@vanessa_vash
: "When African people get to choose, we choose
#renewables
. But will rich countries finally allow us to determine our own future? They need to meet us halfway instead of tying our hands behind our back with gas pipelines." ..🧵
#EndFossilFuels
#CleanEnergy
#COP28
.
@FadhelKaboub
: The
#Africaclimatesummit2023
was a missed opportunity. We expected African leaders to deliver a bold and transformative vision on
#climate
and
#development
. What we ended up with were vague declarations that didn't meet the expectations of the African people. 🧵👇
Carbon markets are a false and complex solution.
They require complex technologies, including computing, data management, global positioning and accounting mechanisms to operate.
Read the full report:
#AfricaClimateSummit23
#ClimateCrisis
Carbon credits are pollution permits
There are an imaginary commodity created to benefit the wealthy, not Africa, Africans or the climate.
Read the full report:
#AfricaClimateSummit23
#ClimateCrisis
AFRICA'S AGENDA AT
#COP28
As the world heads to
#COP28UAE
Africa has outlined the following priority areas:
This COP MUST:
✅Address Climate-Induced
#LossandDamage
✅Support Africa's
#JustTransitions
and Sustainable Development
✅Strengthen
#Adaptation
Action and Support
Loss and Damage: East Africa's Flood Crisis
Here is what has been lost during the
#KenyaFloods
so far:
✅Loss of lives
✅Infrastructure damage
✅Destroyed homes
✅Destruction of farmlands
✅Trade/business disruption
It is time to prioritize early-warning systems
#KenyaNews
Nairobi declaration: A missed opportunity to raise ambition for climate adaptation in Africa
The
#NairobiDeclaration
after
#AfricaClimateSummit23
satisfies some of the expected outcomes but also contains notable gaps and failures. 🧵1/8👇
The energy crisis globally is also damaging communities across Africa which already experience high levels of energy poverty. The continent needs to urgently shift to
#RenewableEnergy
@vanessa_vash
@TheEconomist
Big oil and gas firms have been promising to lift people out of energy poverty for decades. It's a lie. The pipelines and power lines from coal and oil and gas plants will never reach those who live at the last mile and these firms know it.
@vanessa_vash
For
#COP27
to be successful, it should:
💰Deliver climate finance
💪Strengthen adaptation support
🌧️Address loss and damage
☀️Enhance ambition on mitigation
🤝🏽Support African just transition
⚖️Put fairness at the heart of the climate negotiations
Fadhel Kaboub, Senior Advisor,
@PowerShftAfrica
:
"For the Global South, 2024 needs to be the year of rejecting policies of economic entrapment. We must present a united front with a coherent and transformative vision for sustainable prosperity."
@FadhelKaboub
Access to renewable energy is important for enabling Africa's development, especially in light of the current
#EnergyCrisis
.
Join us for this exciting Twitter space tomorrow at 7pm EAT as we discuss the gas debate with experts.
Set a reminder👇
Climate Adaptation Stories from Africa ✍
Restoring
#mangroves
to promote
#biodiversity
Saloum Delta, a network of 200 islands in Senegal 🇸🇳, tells a story of climate
#resilience
,
#adaptation
, and environmental guardianship.
🧵👇
Check it out:
Kenya's
@lizwathuti
speaking at the once-a-decade meeting of the Anglican Communion at
@lambethpalace
, London.
She told the 650 bishops: "We must break our deadly reliance on fossil fuels and invest in clean energy access"
Climate
#Adaptation
Stories from Africa ✍
How Kenyan 🇰🇪 slum weather project is saving lives
In Nairobi’s largest slum Kibra, heavy rains always mean flash-floods, destruction and death. For residents, life in this slum is a matter of chance.
Read how Weather Mtaani is saving
'Africa contains 40% of the world's renewable energy potential. There's no reason we can't see our entire continent become pioneers for forward thinking energy policy that embraces the benefits of clean power while leaving
#fossilfuels
in the ground.'
@mohadow
@NationAfrica
Africa's biggest wind farm as been built near Lake Turkana
It will:
- boost Kenya's electricity supply by 13%
- help Kenya go 100% renewable electricity by next year
- be part of Africa becoming a clean energy superpower
#ActOnClimate
5 months after
@COP26
, what is the world doing in our 'last, best chance' to curtail catastrophic impacts of climate change?
#ClimateActionNow
Watch
@lizwathuti
's full speech👉
While Egypt is dealing with Coronavirus it's also facing the most extreme rainfall for decades.
Known as the 'Dragon Storm', these floods have killed at least 20 people including a 6 year old.
Great to see Senegal planting 80 million mangrove trees
Mangroves:
- Absorb C02 4x faster than rainforests
- Protect the coast from storms
- Provide home to 2K fish species
- Will generate 18K tonnes more fish every year
#adaptation
#ActOnClimate
Climate leaders issued a "cease and desist notice" demanding that
#fossilfuel
companies immediately stop opening any new oil, gas, or coal extraction sites and stop blocking the clean energy transition we all so urgently need.
@vanessa_vash
@GretaThunberg
BREAKING: US refuses climate reparations for developing nations.
During a congressional hearing, US climate envoy
@JohnKerry
stated that the United States will not pay reparations to developing countries affected by
#climatechange
-induced disasters.
"I have seen how the changing weather patterns have destroyed homes, destroyed farms, destroyed businesses & left people with nothing"
@vanessa_vash
sends a message to
@JoeBiden
: “We are going to hold him accountable if he doesn’t fulfil his promises”
'Climate injustice is happening in Africa everyday, yet adaptation &
#LossAndDamage
have been sidelined again. The developed world at
#COP27
harassed the poor communities on loss and damage. We want to remind them that days of colonialism are over.'
@mohadow
at
@CANIntl
briefing
Our natural ecosystems have been pushed beyond breaking point and wealthy countries with the greatest historical emissions are not acting fast enough to help frontline communities cope with the devastation they are facing.
#COP27
@lizwathuti
@IrishTimes
The loss of culture and heritage has so far been neglected in the
#LossAndDamage
discussion yet it is fundamental to all central chapters of the
@IPCC_CH
report such as terrestrial ecosystems; oceans ecosystems; water; food, & settlements.
After many years of the
#climate
conversation, the time has come for Africa to claim its stake in the discourse. Power Shift Africa is inviting you to a monthly Twitter Spaces, starting this Thursday, August 10, 2023 at 4PM EAT.
These Spaces will reflect on some of the key
The
#fossilfuels
(coal, oil and gas) energy regime in
#Africa
has failed to deliver on the promise of jobs, increased
#energyaccess
and development. Millions of Africans are still without access to reliable, affordable and modern energy. 🧵1/4
🚨 ADAPT2LIVE CAMPAIGN 🚨
Link to the Adaptation Campaign site 👇
🟢The
#Adapt2Live
campaign seeks to highlight adaptation as a matter of urgency for
#Africa
while pushing for its elevation in the political agenda of the
#climate
discourse.🧵1/3
Millions are facing starvation across parts of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, livestock and wildlife are dying of thirst and hunger; and at the heart of it is the ever-worsening
#ClimateCrisis
Coronavirus has reached Africa.
For some, they are already dealing with this, the
#LocustInvasion
, driven by climate change, which is destroying their crops.
It's vital in this time of crisis we don't forget about the world's most vulnerable.
Rwanda First African Country To Set New Climate Plan Under Paris Agreement
@mohadow
: "Fellow Commonwealth leaders such as Boris Johnson, Justin Trudeau & Scott Morrison should take heed & ensure their own new climate plans are equally radical.”
Vanessa Nakate:
" It was important to finally deliver the
#LossandDamage
Fund and to put money into the facility.
But it is even more important to put more money into
#adaptation
. This is
#Africa
's priority and the priority of poor countries on the frontline of the
The destruction and suffering witnessed in southern Malawi is the human face of the global climate crisis, The people who have lost their homes and loved ones have done nothing to cause this
#climatecrisis
.
-Rebecca Adda-Dontoh
#CycloneFreddy