December 2, 2019

DIscussion paper – Africa’s Development in the age of stranded Assets_#INRAReport2019

Africa’s Development in the Age of Stranded Assets

As the urgency to act on climate change grows, international climate policies and the advance of low-carbon technologies are reducing the demand for – and value of – some fossil fuels. Substantial proportions of Africa’s carbon wealth could become uneconomic to extract and process: a phenomenon we refer to as stranded assets. Yet recent research by the United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) reveals that the risk of climate-related asset stranding is not on the African policy agenda.

UNU-INRA launches a briefing report at COP25 that discusses Africa’s development in light of potential asset stranding, in the hopes of alerting African governments to the need for effective natural resource planning towards lower carbon economies. The study stands on deep contextual research from eight African countries (Angola, Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria, Niger, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia) offering voices and insights from the continent often missing from the global conversation on resource use and climate change.

The report highlights the associated risks of stranding and impacts on mineral-rich countries in Africa, as well as the opportunities that lie in green transitions and economic diversification.

Date: 3 December, 2019

Time: 11:00-12:30

Venue: Climate and SDG Synergies Pavilion: The Blue Zone

Read the report here