The pan-African transition from fossil fuels to clean energy

In this episode of Cities 1.5, David speaks with two urban climate leaders about the critical issue of energy access in Africa. Despite Africa's low contribution to global emissions, the continent faces a rising energy demand that necessitates a transition to renewable energy in order to ensure its accessibility for all. The fossil fuel industry has a devastating legacy across the African continent, leaving a trail of destruction in its polluting wake...and the oil lobby often presents pipelines to local communities as the only path forward - without disclosing the fact that they’re more unstable, dangerous and expensive than green alternatives. City leaders from diverse communities across this part of the world are fighting to facilitate energy access through innovative local policies to achieve a healthy, sustainable, equitable, future for all residents.

Image Credit: Photo by Aaron Jones @ Unsplash

Featured guests:
Hilda Flavia Nakabuye is a youth climate, gender and environmental rights activist and founder of the Uganda chapter of Fridays for Future, who is fighting to stop the development of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline.

Dorah Modise is the Regional Director for Africa at C40 and is a sustainability enthusiast and expert.

LINKS:
Access to electricity - International Energy Agency
Fridays for Future: Uganda
Stop the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline
Global Witness condemns escalating arrests of climate campaigners in Uganda - Global Witness
Decarbonising the city’s grid through solar farming and efficiency measures - South Africa, Cape Town, C40 Cities Finance Facility
A renewable energy roadmap for African cities - C40 Knowledge Hub
C40 Cities launches research on South Africa green jobs
Cities forge connections with private sector at Africa’s Green Economy Summit - C40
Empowering African youth for a sus

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

Transcript

David 00:00

[Cities 1.5 main theme music] I'm David Miller and you're listening to Cities 1.5, a podcast exploring how cities are leading global change through local climate action. 

[urgent music] Easy access to energy is something that many of us take for granted. Where I live in Canada, the winters are long and cold. The ability to switch on the lights when the sun sets in the late afternoon and crank the heat when the snow flies is so vital that most of us don't think twice about it. But, this isn't equitable around the world. Africa, the most diverse continent experiences one of the lowest energy access levels across the majority of its countries. The Sub-Saharan region is particularly hard hit. As of 2022, 600 million people still lacked electricity access. Worse still, that number is going up. It may rise as high as 85% by 2030, unless some big changes are made.

[music continues] Part of the puzzle is that energy demand across Africa continues to increase. In fact, it's projected to nearly double by 2040. Rising population, economic growth, urbanization, industrialization, and other factors are all leading to the higher demand. But, high prices, unreliable energy grids, and low install capacities are all problems that need to be solved.

[music continues] Of course, while the fossil fuel industry thinks that they have the answers, history tells us that they do not. There is a long and devastating chronology of oil and gas projects displacing hundreds of thousands of people across the African continent, destroying livelihoods, fuelling human rights abuses, propping up dictatorships, and poisoning people, wildlife, and whole ecosystems, all while failing to meet the energy needs of everyday residents. Activists who fight against this dirty energy cartel often risk their lives to do so, and these battles are still ongoing. [music ends]

[driving music] It's vital for African countries to be able to shift away from this destructive pathway and embrace renewables, with different regions and nations facing different challenges. In Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly, to accelerate the energy transition and rebalance the scales for equitable, universal access to studying, working, and living well, the region must double its power generation and increase investments significantly by 2030. 

Embracing renewable energy systems and resources, strengthening and modernizing grids, and adopting cutting-edge energy innovations are paramount to solving the energy access problems across the most impacted regions in Africa. But, what are cities across the continent doing to make this happen? What challenges are they facing? And how can we best support African city residents who are fighting back against the fossil fuel industry, protecting people and planet as they do so? [music ends] 

[light, rhythmic music] Later on in this episode, I'll speak to the Regional Director for Africa at C40, who is exceptionally well positioned to speak about the vulnerability of the African continent to the impacts of the climate crisis, and also to the challenges and the opportunities which the region faces in its bid to transition from dirty fossil fuels to renewable energy.

But first, I had the pleasure of meeting with the climate, gender, and human rights activist who's committed to saving Lake Victoria in Uganda from yet another ill-advised fossil fuel project, which risks the health, wealth, and existence of a fragile ecosystem and the communities who live within it. [music continues then ends]

Hilda Flavia Nakabuye 04:23 

[rotary dial telephone rings] [clicks] Hi. My name is Hilda Flavia Nakabuye. I am a climate activist and founder to Uganda's Fridays for Future movement. I'm currently in Kampala. [receiver chimes, replaced in cradle]

David 04:36

Hilda, first of all, welcome the Cities 1.5. 

Hilda Flavia Nakabuye 04:39 

Thank you, David. 

David 04:41

Can you just introduce yourself to our listeners and just talk a bit about how and why you became involved in climate activism? 

Hilda Flavia Nakabuye 04:50 

Sure. I'm a climate activist and founder to Uganda's Fridays for Future movement. I mobilize and inspire others to join activism through discussions at universities, at schools, in communities. I organized climate action such as lake cleanups, awareness drives in communities, climate demonstrations or climate strikes where many people participated, and this really created awareness among different people, including local community, including local leaders, including students, youth, non-government organizations, and every other Friday, we continue with the climate strikes either on the streets or outside offices—corporate offices—or in communities where we work. So, we continue with the community visits, with the climate awareness drives to inform people about the importance of keeping our environment clean and safe, and the importance of climate action. 

David 06:03

That kind of mass movement's incredibly important in drawing people's attention to the problem and the challenges of climate change. Can you talk a little bit about what you and your colleagues are already seeing in East Africa? 

Hilda Flavia Nakabuye 06:19 

Well, the climate crisis is not a future problem. It's happening now more than ever. And, when you look at East Africa, we are facing a lot of impacts from increased temperatures and droughts in the northern East African parts. Say, parts of Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda, these increased temperatures are claiming livestocks, they are drying water sources like wells, and they're leading to starvation in many parts of the countries, which is of course leading to death, and we have seen increased floods claiming lands and submerging settlement areas, destroying property and livelihoods. This is very evident recently in Kenya and happening now in Uganda. 

We are facing unpredictable weather patterns. This is the order of the day. Even as I speak, we are in the dry season in Uganda, but when you look outside the window, it's threatening to rain. It has been raining very heavily for the past days and yet we are in the dry season. These unpredictable weather patterns have made agriculture hard. Many families are striving because my country, Uganda, is agriculture based and this is our backbone; it's our main source of income. But, due to these unpredictable weather patterns, we have to find alternative sources of income, which are not even there, because we have a very huge unemployment gap. So, this also adds to the problem.

There are many landslides, mud slides, especially in the eastern part of the country—Uganda—which affect people, displacing them, creating many eternal migrants within the country, which is also a bit hard because, as a country, we have a lot of migrants from other countries—from Sudan, from Somalia, you know, from Ethiopia—so this is also increasing the population in Uganda and yet we don't have enough resources to deal with the problems that we have at hand.

My country, Uganda, is the 12th most-vulnerable country to climate change and the 49th least-prepared country to combat these effects, so that even is a wider burden on the country to take care of its citizens. 

David 08:57

[sombre music] One of the things people find it hard to grapple with, I think, is the fact that you can have problems of water scarcity and too much water at the same time. Can you speak a bit for our listeners who aren't from Uganda? I understand that, before coming to come Kampala, you grew up near Lake Victoria. Can you talk a bit about that lake and ecosystem from, ecologically, of course, and also from the perspective of people who live near it, like in Kampala and elsewhere, the impacts on their lives and why it's so important to the lives of Ugandans and others who rely on its water? [music ends] 

Hilda Flavia Nakabuye 09:40 

Lake Victoria is a beauty. It's the second-biggest freshwater body in the world, and it's shared among many East African countries and more than six African countries, because it's the source of the longest river, Nile, and this river benefits very many people. This lake is our life. It's nurtured us. It feeds us. It moves us. We depend on this lake for survival, for livelihoods, for income, health, food, transport. You know, wade formation, nature, healing. It harbours thousands of species, including birds and animals, and I don't know how best to explain it, but it's a source of livelihood for over 40 million people. Many people depend on this lake for survival. That's like three times the population of the Netherlands.

This lake is very near and dear to us as agriculturalists, or as farmers, because we depend on this lake to grow our crops. We depend on this lake to predict, for example, the seasons. The fishermen will tell you this lake is a source of income in regards to tourism, to fisheries, to trade, to transport, so it's very vital to our life. It has a historical, cultural, educational, health, tourism, nutritional, agricultural and economic significance to our lives. 

David 11:23

When you first started speaking about Lake Victoria, you were just beaming. [Hilda chuckles warmly] My understanding is that there are proposals, particularly one from TotalEnergies, the East Africa crude oil pipeline—which for listeners, people refer to as EACOP—and this proposal potentially threatens the ecosystem and people's health and livelihoods around Lake Victoria.

I wonder if you could talk a bit about the potential impacts of that proposal and the activities of Fridays for Future, and the activities you're involved in to try and stop it and, you know, why you're doing it, why you're so motivated as a young person in Uganda to try to address this proposal that has such significant environmental consequences? Why do you care? Why are people so motivated to stop this? 

Hilda Flavia Nakabuye 12:23 

Okay, it's huge. This pipeline—the EACOP—has displaced thousands of people off their land, neglecting their livelihoods and culture representation. Over 400 villages have been displaced, both in Uganda and in Tanzania, and the people who have lost their lands haven't recovered from this loss. They haven't recovered to their normal lives because the compensation was peanuts. Many were promised jobs, but they were chased away by the military like houseflies when they went to ask for jobs.

The pipeline is cutting through a lot of critical biodiversity. This includes game parks, game reserves, including national parks like Uganda's pride, which is Murchison Falls National Park. This pipeline is cutting across forests. It has unacceptable risks to both flora and fauna, since over 100 oil wells were discovered in a national park, which even makes it more ridiculous.

And, a side of this pipeline is passing through Lake Victoria water basin, so it's even increasing the risk for any oil spill. Like I said, over 40 million people's lives depend on this lake for survival, so that means all these people will be put at risk. Their lives, their livelihoods, sources of income will be affected. And, when we look at the emissions from this project, it's immense. 34.3 million metric tons of carbon a year is crazy, for the next 20+ years. It's ridiculous, given that the International Energy Agency just warned that we must stop any new oil and gas projects if we want to limit global warming below 1.5°.

So, having this new source of emissions would be a slap in the face. It would be undermining our global efforts to combat climate change. So, this pipeline is a climate bomb. 

David 14:39

You've been very articulate about the local impacts, particularly if there is an oil spill, and oil spills are inevitable. [driving music] Can you talk a bit about the response to your activism, both on those local, serious impacts on people, pushing people off their land, the risks of harm to a really critical ecosystem in and around Lake Victoria, that is hugely important, well beyond Uganda.

My understanding is that this is essentially going to double the emissions, not just of Uganda, but of Tanzania, as well, which is an incredible thing. It's locally, environmentally disastrous, globally disastrous. How's it received? [music ends] 

Hilda Flavia Nakabuye 15:24 

Well, in Uganda, there are different perspectives about the project. One is because of misinformation. The government has tried so much to inform people that this is a project that will bring jobs. This is a project that will grow our economy as Ugandans, and this is a project that will take us out of the energy gap. And this, by some people, is perceived as a very hopeful project. But, to some people, it's not a hopeful project, especially to the people who have been displaced or the people who are living next to the pipeline, communities that have been displaced, or communities where TotalEnergies has its operational offices.

Communities like mine that are affected by the pipeline are grappling. Many people have lost their land. Many people have lost their livelihoods. Like I said, agriculture is our backbone and you cannot practice agriculture without land. So, if your land is taken, then you have nothing left for you to have a source of income. Then, you have to look for alternative means, which are also very hard given the huge unemployment gap in the country.

So, some people understand that this project is a disaster because they have felt the real impact. For the first time, Hoima experienced a flood in the last year—for the first time—and this is because TotalEnergies built its central processing facility in this area – a huge, huge facility, taking or clearing miles of land. For the first time, this place flooded, and people felt that floods—the communities that stay close to this central processing facilities—their animals were drowned, their crops were submerged in the water, and many other effects.

The central processing facility produces a lot of noise and emissions. Many people who stay close to this place have been suffering from lung diseases. They have problems with breathing. Many of them have problems with their ears because of the noise that comes from it. There's a lot of air pollution. The dust is really crazy, and the animals that stay in some of these areas have been killed. They have lost their usual animal tracks, you know, the trails that they used to look for food, for mates, all this – they have lost them, and many animals have been affected because the TotalEnergies constructed tarmac roads, which are not good for the community because, when it shines, these roads heat up and make it really hard for transportation, for animals to cross over, so it's affecting the animals, as well.

And, as activists and human rights defenders, we've tried to create climate awareness, we've tried to share information about the EACOP and what it really is, the emissions, the effects on both the environment, the health of people, its economic value, its social and cultural representation, and what that means and what that means for communities. We've been able to share some information with also people who are not part of where the pipeline is passing, through, of course, social media, through local media outlets like radios, like televisions, like papers. We've had massive campaigns, calling people to join us. We've had huge actions such as climate strikes or demonstrations outside TotalEnergies' offices, outside the Chinese Embassy, which is also supporting the project, outside the Parliament. 

Many of our activists have been arrested in these actions, but we are not giving up because we have to speak up against these injustices that are occurring on our lands, on our communities. And, we've also been able to mobilize the Global Climate Network to supporters to share our voices, to share our demands, to call on TotalEnergies to stop pushing for the East African Corridor Pipeline Project.

There have been cases in courts against TotalEnergies' operations in the country. We've written letters to different offices, such as the EU Parliament and the European Union Parliament, and they, in response, or in their turn, wrote a declaration to TotalEnergies, asking them to stop the activities because they are violating human rights.

We have an ongoing campaign called Stop EACOP that creates awareness about this project, even outside Uganda or Tanzania borders, for other people to join in solidarity so that we can stop this pipeline. [music ends]

David 20:51

You sound very optimistic and it's clear there's a broad movement of civil society – people who have been impacted, people who are worried about the impact, both locally, on people, on animals, on water, on this really critical resource of Lake Victoria and its ecosystem in East Africa. But, you're taking on the government and a huge multinational corporation. You're taking on the oil industry. That has to be hard. And, you mentioned some of your peers being arrested. You know, are you facing challenges/problems? You're a young woman, fighting a huge old company and a government. You know, on social media, in particular, women often receive threats. Are you having challenges of those kinds because you're speaking up? And, how do you deal with them? How do they impact you and how they impact your colleagues and peers? It must be an impact on your own health, as well, not just the health of those, you know, in the airshed of the facilities. 

Hilda Flavia Nakabuye 21:59 

We have experienced a lot of challenges in line with security, in line with communication, movement – you know, travelling from one place to another. I, personally, have been arrested twice for holding a climate strike and many of my colleagues have been arrested for the same, or even demonstrating outside the Chinese embassy, which was recently, where over 15 people were arrested and detained. The story continues, but all these are just actions to stop our voices, you know, to stop the actions that we are doing. But, we are more convinced that we are fighting for the greater good and that, if we don't fight, then nobody else will fight for us.

We've seen this for many, many others' troubles, including slave trade, including apartheid, and now the climate crisis. So, we have to fight these injustices. 

David 23:05

Are there some lessons you've learned from your activism so far that would apply elsewhere in people who are trying to organize to stop fossil fuel expansion so that the local environment and the planet can both survive? 

Hilda Flavia Nakabuye 23:22 

We have seen the damage that the fossil fuel industry has caused on our land, on our communities, for years, and one of the things that has always worked for any movements or any campaigns is speaking up, activism, and my lesson today to the world is activism works. If you stand up and speak up against the injustices that you are facing, somehow, on the other side of the world, there are people who support you. When you speak up, people understand what you're fighting for and are ready to support you in any way, or to stand in solidarity with you. It doesn't matter, but whatever you represent, be it your community, be it your family, be it your environment, the nature in which you live, it's very important. It's very important to you. It's very important for your community, for your people, to stand for it and the entire world will stand in solidarity with you. 

David 24:31

Well, you're on the right side of history and your determination is incredibly inspiring, Hilda. It's inspiring to me. I know it's inspiring the listeners of our podcast because the fight’s seized. Can you talk a bit about whatever your vision is of the future that keeps you going in this daunting task of fighting the government and a foreign multinational? What does a healthy planet and a good life mean to you? 

Hilda Flavia Nakabuye 25:01 

[driving, pensive music] A healthy planet, a good life looks like my community being able to have access to their land, so their land being given back so that they can grow crops so that they can live together. For me, it's having to live a day like a normal person, not having to worry about the next rain or about when the weather will change, or when the seasons will get to normal.

A good day or a good life, to me, would mean humanity living in harmony with nature, no corporate activities on our land, no social injustices, no climate injustices, a safe environment where we all live in harmony with our surrounding. 

David 25:56

Beautifully put. I think we all share that view of living in harmony with our surrounding, with a sense of justice. Your leadership's inspiring, and it'll be inspiring to the listeners of Cities 1.5. We really appreciate you taking the time to be with us today and, more importantly, for your ongoing work and your ongoing incredible advocacy in support of what's right. Thank you very much indeed for both. 

Hilda Flavia Nakabuye 26:24 

Thank you so much, 1.5 Cities. Thank you for having me. [music continues then ends]

David 26:31

[light, driving music] This episode of Cities 1.5 is produced by University of Toronto Press with generous support from C40 Cities. Want more access to current research on how city leaders are approaching climate action? We also publish the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy. Our mission is to publish timely, evidence-based research that contributes to the urban climate agenda and supports governmental policy towards an equitable and resilient world. The Journal serves as a platform for dynamic content that highlights ambitious, near-term climate action, with a particular focus on human-centred solutions to today's most pressing climate challenges. To read the latest issue, visit JCCPE.utpjournals.press or click on our link in the show notes.

Dorah Modise 27:30 

[rotary dial telephone rings] [clicks] Hello, my name is Dorah Modise. I am the Regional Director for Africa at C40 Cities. I am calling in from Tshwane in South Africa, formerly known as Pretoria. It's the capital city of South Africa. [rotary dial telephone rings] [clicks] 

David 27:51

Dorah, welcome to Cities 1.5. 

Dorah Modise 27:55 

Yes. Thank you for having me, David. 

David 27:58

Thanks for being on the podcast today. We're going to talk today about the potential energy transition in Africa to clean energy, but I think it's important for listeners to understand a bit about your incredibly impressive background and career, and your role at C40, so could you just speak a bit about your own professional journey that's brought you to C40 and what your role today entails? 

Dorah Modise 28:26 

Sure. Thank you very much, David. I call myself a sustainability enthusiast. I've been in the field for about 27 years now. Most of my time has been spent in different levels of government in South Africa. So, I started off at national government, mainly leading sustainable development programs there, which was quite an exciting space in my life because I got to delve deeper into the realm of sustainability, and look at what most people would want to call grey areas, you know, the thread that ties everything up because, very often, people get stuck in these sectors – it's about water, it's about energy. And, my interest has always been in the inter-linkages between the different areas that renders spaces sustainable.

And, during that time, I really developed a love for urban spaces and, because I was in a national government space, it was maybe from a planning perspective, that's when I took a conscious decision to move over to local government and I serve the city of Tshwane for a good number of years and started the sustainability programs there.

The common thread in my sustainability and career journey has been about conceptualizing ground-breaking programs that are aimed at firstly ensuring that we avert this climate crisis that we currently see, so I can safely say that I have failed because the climate crisis is upon us. But however, not all is lost because the journey continues in ensuring that we reduce as much as possible.

I find myself now at the C40. I came across the C40 many years ago and I've always been in awe in terms of the difference that the C40 can do. So, being at a helm now of the Africa region and leading climate action programs within the region and working very closely with mayors that are so passionate about making a difference is what really gets me going, especially the fact that there is still so much that the African region can do. There's still a huge deficit, from a development perspective, and we find ourselves now in an opportune moment where, as a region, we can leapfrog and avoid making the mistakes that were made in the Global North on the path towards sustainability. So, quite an exciting space. 

David 31:07

[sombre music] One thing that struck me about Africa is certainly-- I'm talking to you from Victoria, Canada. I'm on the traditional territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən-speaking people. From a North American perspective, I think we sort of see Africa as this big continent that's all the same, and of course it isn't. It's incredibly diverse amongst the countries and cities.

I'd be interested in your thoughts. You just said something really powerful about trying to not make the mistakes of the Global North in the transition to sustainability. Are the paths to do that similar across the different cities and countries in Africa? You know, how do you in a role, as a regional coordinator for such a large continent with so many different countries, how do you help steer that transition? [music ends] 

Dorah Modise 32:00 

In South Africa, there's five cities that are members of the C40. South Africa is very much fossil fuel reliant, so the energy mix in South Africa is around 85% fossil fuel, most of that being coal generation. When you compare it with other countries like, for example, Kenya, who are also—Nairobi being the city county that's the member of C40 that I work with—yes, they also need to transition and reduce emissions, but Kenya's energy mix is 85% renewable – biothermal. So, it's a complete opposite.

So, maybe if I take another example, you look at Nigeria in the west, they are mainly reliant on oil. They have vast amounts of oil, so their transition will be different in terms of how do you move away from oil and introduce more renewables. But, for Kenya, we can speak about mainly energy access and security, and therefore how do we expand that, using the very same renewable source that's being used and also exploring other technologies that are available, rather than us saying-- so, we can't, for example, in Kenya, use the word "decarbonize" because their energy is already decarbonized, but for South Africa and Nigeria, we can use the word "decarbonize" in their transition journey.

So, completely different scenarios just by taking those three examples, so therefore, the work that we do with our mayors is mainly to sit and just map out the carbon footprint, what are the key touch points that need to be looked at, and have unique plans for each of them.

David 33:51

So, the common starting point is the map. 

Dorah Modise 33:54 

It's the map, yeah. 

David 33:56

And Africa is a huge continent, but it's responsible for a relatively small proportion of the world's emissions. I understand the figure's less than 4%. Why is it so important to create an energy transition in African countries that do rely on fossil fuels like Nigeria and South Africa? 

Dorah Modise 34:16 

You are correct, David. The contribution at the moment is significantly less, but it's got the potential of ballooning because we expect that probably, by 2030, we will be seeing double the populations that we currently see in urban centres in the African region. We have a fairly young population that is young as in youth. The youth population in most-- I think the average for the Africa region is around 65% youth. Therefore, these are economically active participants, so therefore we can very quickly go the wrong way if we don't look at transition elements because we need to meet the deficit. So, currently, more than 600 million people still lack access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa.

David 35:12

600 million?

Dorah Modise 35:13 

Million, yes, lack access to electricity and about 970 million still do not use clean cooking methods. So, even when you look at the less contribution vis à vis the infrastructure that still needs to be built to sustain the economies in Africa, which are growing at a fast rate, it means that if we do not have a sustainable transition, we might repeat the same mistakes and perpetuate the fossil fuel usage.

So, in our efforts too, and which is why, when you speak to the leaders and our mayors in the region, most of them, the priority is, "I need to increase access," so it's energy security that is an issue. So therefore, programs, funding priorities are all linked with increased access and make sure that we deal with the deficit.

But therefore, as we increase that access, the main issue for me is the how. How do we increase access such that we ensure that everyone has access to electricity and energy? It has to be in a clean way using renewable sources of electricity which are vast, by the way, in the African continent, especially solar and wind actually, to a certain extent. So therefore. that infrastructure that we would need to put in place by 2030 to deal with the doubling or the rapid increase in our urban population needs to ensure that it does not grow at the same level as fossil fuel emissions. So, as we increase energy access, the emissions load must go down, which then means, we look at the cleaner energy.

David 37:06

[gentle music] I'm interested that, when you speak to mayors and city governments, they speak about the importance of access. You know, in some African countries like South Africa, historically, the energy grid has been run by the national government. Can you speak to the importance of city-based action in ensuring that, as this growing population gets access to energy, it's clean energy and not fossil fuel-based energy? You know, how can mayors influence this transition? What are cities doing in Africa, and are there some good examples that others can use as a precedent? [music ends]

Dorah Modise 37:47 

Okay, so seeing some innovative city-level initiatives that are being undertaken. So, you're correct, David, that in most of the countries, and not just South Africa, the energy mandate is still very much at a national government. Even though national governments themselves are also talking about a just transition, it is much slower because there is that issue around, "Well, we should not leave anyone behind." Certainly, in South Africa, that's a big topic, especially around the major coal mines that exist. It's the same in Nigeria, as well, with regard to the oil refineries and extraction and so on. So therefore, what the mayors are now doing is to come up with local energy plans and policies, and the C40 has been working with a number of cities in the region to develop these energy policies that look at decentralized, small-scale, off-grid energy solutions for different areas within their localities.

So, what national governments are starting to do is to try to start and realize that mayors need to have autonomy over their cities. So, we see that actually as a positive step that's being taken by national governments. For example, the city of Cape Town in South Africa, the mayor made a very clear pronouncement that, by 2050, they want to completely be energy independent and not rely on the national grid, which is, it's understood that it will take a good number of years, really, even decades, for the national grid to completely decarbonize.

So, that city, the mayor was very clear; they now have a policy—a localized policy—that's welcoming or encouraging independent energy producers to produce energy and plug on, and are able to then feed into the grid and sell back the excess energy that they generate.

There is a bit of stumbling block in that it might destabilize the national grid, should their system pass. Should a number of these major cities win in their efforts to generate their own clean energy and want to feed onto the grid, it means now that there might be a surplus, but that can be circumvented and national government will have to look at, you know, further industrialization and a rapid speed in terms of decarbonizing.

But, cities and mayors are starting to take a stand. I think probably 90% of our cities are now looking at these off-grid solutions. We are working with Lagos, Cape Town, the city of Tshwane in South Africa, Lagos in Nigeria, as well as Nairobi, in working at those on those of great solutions that would be implemented, and the plan is that then they get scaled up across those localities to a point where the target for energy security for city leaders is met, whilst at the same time, we have clean energy that replaces a rather dirty energy that gets generated in these cities. 

David 41:06

Dorah, I know that South Africa has a history of problems with its grid. Has that affected you, and can you speak also to how a transition to clean energy might actually solve some of these problems? 

Dorah Modise 41:25 

The South African grid has been very unstable for a good number of years, so the national electricity utility has been struggling. So, to me, personally, I mean, we've had to do quite a number of installations at home level, so we've had to put up solar water heating to make sure that we just at least move a bit of the home from electricity, and we've had to install battery storage because, when we didn't have that, it would mean that sometimes in a day you go for 6 to 8 hours without electricity and the wastage that comes to that from your refrigeration perspective and just, you know, even children, you know, homework and getting work done because, when that happens, normally with electricity, it also affects Internet connectivity, so it really has been quite tough.

So, for the past two years, I've had battery storage so whenever there was blackout, I always had backup battery that would last about three to five days. But then, that also means a significant cost. So, I count myself fortunate to have afforded that. But, there are many households that do not afford that, and small businesses that have gone out of business because of this.

Now, in terms of the transitioning and it is unfortunate that the national government has really, for a good number of years, been protecting the national utility and therefore didn't move faster in terms of decarbonizing the grid because the sooner we decarbonize, that means that we've got security of supply because, currently, in South Africa, the demand exceeds the supply that is there.

[driving music] The challenge that we are seeing happening with the move towards renewable—and it is happening at a faster rate—most of it through cities, as explained, but then also private sector and private households. Now, it's mainly the middle class that are moving through to solar rooftop. It's your businesses that are moving also to renewable sources of energy and your what we call residential gated estates, and these are communities that can afford to pay for government-supplied electricity. So, you then get revenue being cut off and all the people that remain are those that cannot afford, so therefore it becomes a vicious cycle.

So, what has become very clear is that revenue from electricity sales for the national utility, that is about 80% reliable on coal generation, is going down because those that can afford to pay are going into the renewable space, supported by their cities and their mayors. So, there's going to be no other option but to quickly transition or to escalate the transition rate by the national utility because that transition is happening anyway, without them, because of the blackout that's been happening. [music ends] 

David 44:38

It's interesting to hear that cities are taking such a strong leadership role. Can you speak a little bit about the way it's envisioned to use distributed energy? Is this sort of small-scale, rooftop solar and that kind of thing for people who are living in low-income communities, or how's the clean energy likely to be produced? 

Dorah Modise 45:00 

So, what we are seeing now, as low-hanging fruit, is the small-scale, not so much rooftop, but it's mainly decentralized, so there will be a location identified closer to either social housing or low-income residential areas to assist to feed into that. So, that is happening in a number of cities and mainly in those areas where there was no access.

So, we are not seeing a quick retrofit of areas that already had access, but where new installations happen, we see the small-scale installations and your rooftop solar water-heating installations that get put on. We are also seeing an increasing number of businesses, I must say, so what cities are doing is that they are offering some rebates and incentives to businesses for them to then install renewable energy sources either on site or through another producer.

That has been critical also from an energy security perspective because, even with mostly the fossil-fuel based grid, most of these countries have been experiencing, for example, load shedding, load reduction due to transmission challenges, and generation challenges, so therefore, to attract and ensure investor confidence and keep businesses within localities and cities, are creating these very creative investment packages for businesses. So, we see, for example, your shopping complexes, your large industrial building areas or your warehouses, now moving on to solar generation. 

David 46:52

Very interesting that the cities are able to creatively—starting with the fact that people need access—find a way to build clean energy when it seems to be challenging, politically, at the national government level in some African countries. 

The messaging the oil giants use is always about the economy, and this is as true in Canada as it is in East Africa. From my perspective, in the bigger picture, it's not true because of all the damage to health and the environment and climate and, you know, flooding and everything that it causes. Is there any messaging that yet works in the African context or within a particular African country to counteract that narrative from the fossil fuel giants? Have, you know, any of the mayors, for example, been successful in speaking about the positive economic impacts of clean energy?

Dorah Modise 47:48 

So, the messaging that is beginning to work, which we are implementing at the moment is around the main concept of good green jobs. So, to circumvent the messaging that says, "Well, the oil sector, the fossil fuel..." You know, of course, the fossil fuel lobby is around, yes, maximum number of jobs, but then the messaging that we are bringing from this side is on the introduction of innovative new technologies for renewable energy generation, bringing with them opportunities for new industries and new jobs, especially for the younger population that we are dealing with.

So, it's literally similar kind of messaging that is being used on the other side, but then, in addition to the messaging that we are using on the good green jobs coming in-- and you've just mentioned there the issue around health impacts and the issue around long-term viability of those economies, or even those natural spaces that are being used to extract, refine, etc., whatever activity would be happening there.

So, most of our cities are now part of the whole inclusive climate action program that is looking at equitable access, health issues, just transition, wherein we bring everyone in and we ensure that the necessary skills for the next kind of energy revolution that we are looking at, which is mainly focused on renewables, is being entrenched amongst the young members of the population and they understand it, and we make them market ready to participate in the renewables markets. 

David 49:31

[gentle music] Well, it's a powerful message and obviously, hopefully, it lands really well, particularly amongst young people. Can you speak to any other support that C40 is giving to African cities to help make this transition to clean energy? 

Dorah Modise 49:49 

Yes. So, we are providing support through a number of programs within the C40. So, we've got the Climate Action Implementation Program that is supporting cities on developing key programs and plans on their energy transitions and how they would then ensure that they move to renewable microgrids within their cities. [music fades out] So, we've worked with Tshwane, Cape Town, Nairobi, Lagos, and Johannesburg, on those.

Linked to that, what we've started doing in the C40 is not just deal with technical assistance on getting the plans ready and conceptualizing the programs, but we are also implementing some pilot programs in a number of these cities, just as proof of concept to what we would have planned to do.

We also have a finance facility where we have worked with a number of cities to do thorough project preparation to make sure that we have projects that are bankable and ready for equity financing. We have just concluded in Freetown, in Sierra Leone, as well as in Ghana, some renewable energy programs that would be ready for submission for full funding in terms of implementation. So, we mainly go in and make sure that, firstly, yes, we've understood what the carbon footprint looks like and, secondly, we have developed a program that we would implement and calculated how it would contribute towards their emissions trajectory. And thirdly, that that project is ready—is shovel ready, really—before we then exit.

David 51:40

Shovel and finance ready – both. 

Dorah Modise 51:43 

Yes. 

David 51:44

So, there's a whole range of supports for these cities. We've recently spoken with a number of young people. Do you have any thoughts about the importance to the climate movement, to sustainability, to creating support for the leadership that these mayors are taking, of civil society and young people and young people speaking up and using their voice as advocates?

Dorah Modise 52:12 

Look, I think, for many years, most revolutions, I must say, have been led by the youth and civil society, so for anything to change, we need that strong lobbying voice, and young people have got that energy and the staying power. You know, they are able to stay the course and push for governments to move. We have seen, in a number of our cities, a number of protests led by the youth that have led to positive change in the climate action lobby.

I have seen over the past, probably 5, 6 years, UNFCCC platforms where more and more young people are coming up. I mean, it started off with Greta Thunberg and quite a number of them are now on those platforms and they are being listened to. So the C40, itself, has got a youth desk and a very vibrant youth lobby in the African region. We are working with the youth initiative within the C40 to try and support and also invigorate young people within the region for them to firstly understand the climate breakdown, what it means for them, and also the actions that can be taken, but then secondly, for them to become part of the solutions that are being taken. So, there are quite a number. I mean, I didn't speak to those, but there are quite a number of initiatives that we are doing with young people and mainly because, like I said, the African population is fairly young, so we've got more young people within the region than adults. 

David 53:58

That's a fascinating topic that would be many podcast episodes all on its own, but the impact on climate is very interesting. We're asking all of our guests this season in Cities 1.5 the same question. What does a good life mean to you, personally? What would a good life mean to African city residents in the context of sustainability and clean energy and the economic needs that young people face?

Dorah Modise 54:27 

[pensive music] A good life for me will be one where I wake up every morning in a space where I can breathe without having my sinusitis challenge that I currently have if I step out, so I can breathe fairly clean air, open my tap of water and have clean, running water that I can drink from the tap because, these days, we have to buy water. And, it's one where I am able to really completely power my home.

I think, for our cities, obviously, a good life would be one where probably everyone is gainfully economically active and is able to feed themselves and their immediate families, and where all natural resources within their immediate reach are available to them freely. 

David 55:29

Well, that sounds like a powerful and impressive view of the future, and I'm sure many of Africa's mayors share a similar view. Dorah, we really appreciate the time you've taken to give our listeners an insight into what's happening on the continent of Africa and the different challenges of the cities and the real leadership that's happening, with the support of C40. 

Dorah Modise 55:53 

Thanks very much for having me, David. I enjoyed it. [music continues then ends]

David 56:04

[energetic, upbeat music] It's often said that the climate crisis has no borders, but it does have deep gullies of inequality, as evidenced by the lack of energy access in most regions of Africa. The answer to this problem needs to be a green one, and it also makes more sense to pursue renewable energy systems. Not only are they more affordable, scalable and reliable, they are the only way forward if we want there to be a safe future for humanity.

They're also the only viable choice for Africans who want to live in healthy ecosystems, which are under an existential threat of destruction from the fossil fuel industry. Advocates and leaders like Dorah and Hilda are giving us the hard evidence that there is hope for a stronger, more sustainable grid in many African countries, and they're helping cities across the continent to advocate for and pay for that future.

[music continues] Currently, 25% of people without electricity in Africa are city residents, so this is an issue that needs to be addressed now to create a healthy and prosperous future for all Africans. [music ends]

David 57:22

On the next episode of Cities 1.5, we return to a topic that's more important than ever, mis- and disinformation. Pragnya Senapati is a policy and research lead at Ripple Research, who studies food systems and public policy. She also studies how myths and disinformation contribute to behavioural patterns and climate anxiety, which undermine the meaningful and urgent climate action the world so desperately needs. Make sure to tune in, as you won't want to miss. It.

[Cities 1.5 main theme music continues] This has been Cities 1.5, leading global change through local climate action. I'm David Miller. I was the Mayor of Toronto, Canada, and I know, firsthand, the role cities can play in solving the climate crisis. Currently, I'm the Editor in Chief of the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, published by the University of Toronto Press in collaboration with the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy, where I'm also the Managing Director. C40's mission is to use the voices and the actions of its member mayors to help the world avoid climate breakdown.

[music continues] Cities 1.5 is produced by University of Toronto Press in association with the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy and C40 Cities. This podcast is produced by Jessica Schmidt, and edited by Morgane Chambrin. Our executive producers are Peggy Whitfield and Calli Eliopoulos. Our music is by Lorna Gilfedder.

The fight for a healthier world is closer than you think. To learn more, visit the show's website, linked in the episode notes. See you next time. [main theme music continues then ends]