United Kingdom – July 14 (Mediaage NG) – One of Africa’s richest, Tony Elumelu has revealed that the continent must lead the globe to engineer environmental sustainability, an issue he said is “so central to our present and the future.
Elumelu disclosed on his Facebook page, detailing what transpired in talks he had in the meeting that also had the presence of the United States President, Joe Biden.
He said, his project, the Tony Elumelu Foundation supports green entrepreneurship and agripreneurship which play critical roles in driving innovative solutions to environmental issues.
“I was in London today at the invitation of King Charles III of the United Kingdom and U.S. President Biden to attend the Climate Finance Mobilisation Forum in London, aimed at mobilising a new generation of catalytic capital in the fight against climate change, Elumelu known for his humanitarian works, said.
“This Forum convened a group of global leading philanthropies, companies, and investors.
“I represented Africa and presented our agenda that Africa must lead the world in driving environmental sustainability.
Elumelu said Africa needs a just, fair, equal and a realistic strategy in addressing the inequalities that have existed between Africa and the rest of the world.
While confirming that Africa must prioritise the provision of a mix of both traditional and renewable energy, he said this cannot be at the expense of the drive to urgently address the continent’s current energy deficit.
“A Net Zero conversation that ignores, dismisses, or underestimates the continent’s current reality does us all more harm than good, he added.
Recent trends he said show a decrease in renewable energy investment to emerging and developing economies. “Africa’s green revolution requires urgent, immediate and significant funding – funding that is larger than the resources available to African governments, and private sector.
“Climate change is a crisis that the countries in Africa did not create, the continent has contributed the least, yet continues to suffer an outsized impact.
“We all have our parts to play- from the bottom to the top. Collectively, we must do better. We have a dwindling window to address, probably the most significant challenge of our time, he concluded.