A report on sustainable transport in Africa spotlights issues including “a just transition, electrifying vehicles based on renewables and shifting investments to sustainable infrastructure.”
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) contributed to the report’s publication within the framework of the Advancing Transport Climate Strategies (TraCS) project.
The report, Leapfrogging to Sustainable Transport in Africa – 12 Insights into the Continent’s Sector Transformation, was compiled through a dialogue with African and international experts and practitioners.
It points out that due to the immense contrasts within Africa, generalisations are of limited value.
29% of total CO2 emissions from the combustion of coal, crude oil, and natural gas are attributable to the transport sector.
“There are wide variations in the economic structure of African countries. Some (Nigeria, Libya, Angola) export petroleum almost exclusively, leaving their economic development heavily dependent on oil prices.
“In other countries, economic activity is dominated by agriculture, performed in many places at the subsistence level.”
The report points out that the transport sector will have an important role to play in the reduction of the continent’s emissions.
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Sustainable transport systems have the capacity to mitigate CO2 emissions
“Petroleum now accounts for around a quarter of Africa’s energy supply and is the most important energy source on the continent.
“It is thus no surprise that the transport sector plays a central role in CO2 emissions: 29% of total CO2 emissions from the combustion of coal, crude oil, and natural gas are attributable to the transport sector, and most of that comes from road vehicles.
“The next greatest emitters in Africa are coal-fired power plants, though they come in at a distant second.
“Although Africa has contributed little to global warming thus far, the continent’s growing population has the potential to become a significant greenhouse gas emitter.
“If global warming is to be kept below 2°C relative to preindustrial times, Africa’s CO2 emissions too will have to peak soon and fall to net zero by the end of the century.”
The insights in the report are:
- Net-zero mobility can ensure sustainable economic growth;
- A successful transition to sustainable transport requires clean energy and more equitable and efficient mobility;
- Creating fairer and more efficient mobility is the key to creating healthy, sustainable, and liveable cities;
- The paratransit sector (passenger cars, mopeds, rickshaws (tricycles) and bicycles) is essential for the sustainable design of urban and rural mobility services;
- Digital data can ensure that the transition to sustainable transport keeps apace with dynamic development in Africa;
- Social justice is a basic precondition for sustainable transport;
Africa has tools at its disposal to transform transport sector
- Electric transport is the most efficient way for Africa to shed its dependence on fossil fuels and achieve net-zero mobility;
- The motor vehicle industry and African countries must work together to create added value in the domestic economy;
- Africa possesses enough renewable energy to power the global transition to sustainable transport;
- The electrification of rail and road makes it possible to decouple the volume of trade from the level of freight transport emissions;
- Climate protection and resilience are the foundations for the development of Africa’s transport infrastructure; and
- It is the joint responsibility of national governments and international investors to coordinate financing decisions.
Targeting emissions through specific policies and measures
The report said the future of transport will be shaped by policy action.
“GIZ and the Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport (SLOCAT) have evaluated the transport sections of the Nationally Determined Contributions and found that eight African states, including Burkina Faso, Gambia, and Liberia, have specific emission reduction targets for the transport sector.
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“The measures identified in the plans range from changes in the modal split to the introduction of low-carbon fuels, from electrification to improvements in transport systems.”
Each individual African country, region, and city must find its own way of designing transport systems, though international experience can help, the report said.
“According to the UNFCCC, the countries of the North, the greatest contributors to global warming, have a duty under international law to help other countries, the Global South in particular, “better cope with the problems of climate change.”
