Mozambique faces the most severe effects of climate change

This year’s news have been dominated by concerns over urgent need for a global energy system transformation. The energy transition is a pathway toward to reduce energy-related CO₂ emissions to limit climate change. Mozambique faces the most severe effects of climate change, despite having the least responsibility for the problem. Intense and frequent droughts, floods and storms have already affected the lives of 70 percent of the population. In March and April 2019, two devastating cyclones affected Mozambique, namely Idai and Kenneth. Hundreds of people died and millions were in need of humanitarian support such as access to clean water, food and shelter. Idai was considered the second deadliest cyclone to hit the Southern Hemisphere, while Kenneth was the strongest to hit Africa.

Among other emerging measures, adaptation to climate change involves embracing an adequate model of energy transition in the formulation of policies. An inclusive energy supply can only be accomplished through a fair participation on all stages of Energy Transitions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and universal access to modern energy by 2030 (SDG7). 

Despite being endowed with important sources of renewable energy (hydro, biomass, solar and wind) as well as fossil fuels (natural gas and coal), Mozambique’s national grid only serves around 31 percent of the population. The country still faces the challenge of boosting economic development and creating employment opportunities for a growing young population. This objective cannot be achieved without energy. Without decentralized systems of renewable energy, Mozambique will be vulnerable to underdevelopment, high levels of unemployment, migration crisis and instability.

On the other hand, lower global demand for non-renewable energy commodities (especially fossil fuels) due to decarbonization will reduce the international price of these commodities and jeopardize the value of Mozambique’s wealth. The transition to low carbon involves a substantial transformation of the economy that will need public policy support to overcome the presence of potential market fail.

CDD brings actors from different disciplines together with organisations from the wider world to zoom in and find together synergies to accelerate action towards Just Energy Transition. 

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The Center for Democracy and Development (CDD) organized at April 28, in Maputo City the national conference on “Challenges and Opportunities to Promote an Inclusive Energy Transition in Mozambique”, which served to present the report of the research conducted in the city of Pemba, as well as create a forum for dialogue between the relevant stakeholders in the energy transition process.

The conference is part of the CDD initiative, supported by the British High Commission in Mozambique, which aims to promote a more inclusive energy transition by leading a citizen consultation process that encourages greater involvement and participation of civil society. Prior to the national conference, two events were held as part of the same project: the workshop presenting the results of the “Citizens Consultation and Dialogue to Promote an Inclusive Energy Transition in Pemba”, held on March 30th, in partnership with the Pemba Municipal Council; and the webinar “Launch of the Citizens Consultation and Dialogue to Promote an Inclusive Energy Transition in Pemba”, held on February 9th.

In the 28 April conference, the United Kingdom High Commissioner in Mozambique was responsible for the opening remarks. NneNne Wuji-Eme began her intervention by stating that the British High Commission, through the partnership between the cities of Aberdeen (United Kingdom) and Pemba (Mozambique), is working with the municipal authorities of Pemba in the development of its long term objectives of promoting economic growth, prosperity and inclusive and sustainable economic systems through urbanization plans, infrastructure and energy transition.

This is a plan that is still being developed with contributions from the citizens of Pemba, and it is expected that it will improve the environment for investments in local infrastructure sectors with regional impact, contributing to the stimulation of other sectors. The plan also aims to contribute to climate change adaptation, mitigation and resilience actions, as well as enabling Pemba to join the World Energy Cities Partnership, an initiative that connects energy cities to promote sustainable energy production for the benefit of communities.

Building on the commitment made by Mozambique at the COP26 summit in November 2021, namely to reverse the scenario of land degradation, deforestation and achieve around 72% renewable energy based energy, the UK Government is committed to working with the Mozambican authorities on a long-term plan to harness future natural gas revenues from the Rovuma Basin to build resilience, adaptive capacity to climate change, improved energy access as well as the transition to cleaner energy.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy (MIREME), Teodoro Vales, in his intervention, argued that in the conditions in which Mozambique finds itself, the need to ensure access to energy for all is essential. It is in this context that the Government launched in 2018 a national programme called “Energy for All”, which advocates universal access by the year 2030. Added to this challenging programme is the challenge of energy transition, a global agenda but one that carries national political and economic weight. “In a country with nearly 60% of the population without access to electricity, it is somewhat paradoxical to ask those who have never had access to electricity at home to make a statement on something inherent to the energy transition. However, this should not constitute an exclusion factor in the approach to matters related to the energy transition process.”

MIREME believes that the energy transition should be made taking into account the existing conditions in the country. “For example, there is the need to abandon or renounce coal, but at the moment coal is the main contributor to Mozambique’s balance of payments. Therefore, it is an important resource for the country’s economy, so it cannot be renounced from one day to the next. It is necessary that the energy transition be a gradual process that does not cause a rupture in the economic system”.

The Government has set a target for 2024 of increasing the generation capacity of clean and renewable energy by 600 megawatts, of which 400 megawatts will come from gas and 200 megawatts from hydro, solar and wind sources.

“The UK Government, represented by the British High Commission in Mozambique, is also committed to finding solutions to ensure that countries like Mozambique, which are most vulnerable to climate change, can access the finance and resources they need to build resilience for the future”, said the High Commissioner.

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The CDD proposes that the European Union grant a period of exclusion or exemption to least developed countries (LCD) such as Mozambique; and increase financial support and assistance for climate action in LDC, taking into account the resources that will result from this initiative. to prompt you in reaching the peak of accomplishment.

In July 2021 the European Commission proposed the regulation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), one of the key elements for achieving the European Union’s goal (EU) to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 (compared to the 1990 level). On March 15th, the Council of the European Union reached a first agreement on the file.

The CBAM is a tariff on EU imports of electricity, cement, aluminium, fertilisers, iron and steel products, depending on the emission content of production. With this measure, EU importers will be required to purchase carbon certificates corresponding to the price of carbon that would have been paid if the goods had been produced under EU carbon pricing rules. The main objective is to limit carbon leakage, that is, for companies to transport the production of goods to countries with less stringent environmental rules, and to encourage partner countries to establish carbon pricing policies to combat climate change. This mechanism will help accelerate the decarbonisation of European industry and, at the same time, protect it from companies from countries with less ambitious climate targets.

However, while this measure responds to the strategy of accelerating Europe’s green transition, it may have severe side effects on least developed countries (LDC). EU import data indicates that a total of six (6) African countries appear at least once in the list of the 10 most affected importers in each sector, namely: Egypt, Mozambique, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and South Africa.

Mozambique, in particular, is the prime example of a LDC that will be severely affected by this measure. As shown in Graph 1, Mozambique is in the group of the 10 largest aluminium exporters to the EU, with an annual export volume well above US$900 million.

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