Global climate challenges should be addressed fairly to Africa: Al Ghais

Johannesburg: Global climate challenges should be addressed fairly to accommodate Africa as the continent contributes the smallest share to green house gas emissions globally, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais said on Tuesday.

Utilising Africa’s oil and gas resources would help deliver energy affordability and alleviate energy poverty on the continent, Al Ghais said in online remarks, addressing an energy conference in Cape Town.

“In a world in which Heathrow Airport consumes more energy than Sierra Leone or in which two-thirds of all primary schools in Sub-Saharan Africa have no access to electricity, the same environmental yardstick should not be used to compare regions at vastly different stages of development,” he said.