World’s most disadvantaged nations aim to hit 100% renewable energy

Forty-seven of the world’s poorest nations have pledged to use 100% renewable energy for their future power generation needs and skip fossil fuels instead.

During the final day of the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference in Morocco last week, which discussed ways for countries to hit the targets set by the Paris Agreement late last year, members of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) laid out their ambitious green energy goals.

The idea is to have some of the world’s most disadvantaged countries skip from pre-industrialization practices to renewables, allowing them to basically avoid the “messy part” in the middle where a need for more energy to support economic growth spurs fossil fuel use to dangerously high levels.

In economics, this sort of skipping is known as “leapfrogging” and it occurs when a society skips a step of development that other countries have taken.

The 47 members of the CVF – which includes nations like Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Haiti – hope to perform the same kind of “leapfrogging” with regards to energy, issuing a commitment to fully green their economies between 2030 and 2050 and presenting a detailed plan to the UN by 2020.

Termed the Marrakech Vision, the plan promises that the 47 members will: “strive to meet 100% domestic renewable energy production as rapidly as possible, while working to end energy poverty and protect water and food security, taking into consideration national circumstances”.

The announcement comes at a time when countries around the world are trying to come up with a way to uphold the Paris Agreement set at the end of last year, which aims to keep global temperature levels from rising 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

“They have once again shown their moral leadership in this process with real-world commitments to action. These countries are already living the terrifying reality of climate change today and their very existence is on the line. The EU stands with them and their commitment to greater ambition in the years ahead,” said Miguel Arias Canete, the EU climate commissioner.

Much of the progress towards meeting these renewable energy goals will depend on finance from richer nations, who committed to contribute US$100billion a year from 2020, as part of the Paris climate agreement.

However, there are concerns that any possible pullout from the Paris agreement by the US could impact that fund as US President-elect Donald Trump promised to stop US federal dollars being spent on global warming initiatives.

The US has also promised US$3billion at present for the initial capitalization of the green climate fund, it has only paid some US$500million to date.

There are concerns that if the US pulls out and other nations also cut their funding, the goals set in Paris would be seriously hindered or even destroyed.