Corruption will undermine fight against climate change in Africa

Residents fetching water from a dugout well at a dried up Akwitchatis River on March 17,2022 due to the ravaging drought in the area.[Kipsang Joseph, Standard] As the curtain came down on the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi last week, the immediate reactions were the success and the impeccable work in organising a great meeting. However, as we give the deserved plaudits to the host, it is equally imperative to discuss the next course of action and ask what must be done to realise the outcomes of the talks. One obvious answer to this concern is that implementing the proposed interventions and commitments certainly calls for a more accountable, transparent and responsible leadership as well as providing the right environment in terms of policies, regulations and systems. Different from other such meetings, the Nairobi summit was not heavy with blame on the world's leading polluters, much as it expressed concerns about the half-hearted approach by developed nations. The key outcomes of the deliberations were the need for collective and proportionate responsibilities among all nations to address the crisis. The main product of the summit can be summarised under two broad strategies. First, the commitments to establish the right policies, environmentally friendly regulatory frameworks to demonstrate the commitment of the respective state to take responsibilities and address the problem. Second is commitments to mobilise and set up substantial resources to help climate change adaptation and resilience programmes. Though well intended, those strategies might not achieve the impacts anticipated like those before if the underlying challenges of corruption and bad governance, as facilitators of climate change, are not adequately addressed. Understandably, the setting of policies requires strong, responsible political will. Apparently, the enactment of ineffective policies and laws to regulate emissions, logging, forestry and energy are mostly as a result of conflict of interests by the policymakers and manipulation by private entities and players in those sectors. The irresponsible lobbyists and state capture usually frustrate the enactment of stronger environmental laws. It is no surprise that most African countries are the biggest extraction sites for industries in the developed countries, which leaves locals with a polluted environment and poverty. Further, the commitment to mobilise financial resources is a good move but equally important is the institutionalisation of strong accountable and transparent systems to realise the impact of those resources. The biggest challenge has been the integrity and transparency in the sharing and use of the climate funds. According to the UN, Africa needs between $1.3 trillion and 1.6 trillion to adapt to climate change by 2030. This translates to between $186 billion and $228 billion every year to achieve. These are no mean figures and not even close to what was pledged by developed nations and development banks. According to the World Economic Forum, in 2019 the developing countries lost an average $1.26 trillion to corruption and other illicit financial flows. If saved, this is ten times the $100 billion amount pledged by the developed nations to the climate funds at the Paris Agreement. This demonstrates the potential for developing countries to address their needs if they seal the loopholes resulting in loss of substantial resources that could help address climate changes and other challenges. The broken promises by the rich nations aside, the developing countries still face challenges to mobiles international resources critical for the same endeavour if the loopholes are not sealed and the overarching governance challenges are not fixed. The vast resources are usually earmarked for implementing projects to achieve adaptation and resilience against the vagaries of climate change as well as invest in environment-friendly ventures. Key among them is the production of clean and renewable energy sources like harnessing solar energy and wind sources. However, the transparent and diligent use of these resources are questions that need answers. In Kenya, for instance, such capital intense projects in energy and water are rife with allegations of corruption in the form of overpricing, embezzlement and payments for incomplete projects. Lake Turkana Wind Power Project, where about Sh18 billion was lost, was shrouded with allegations of irregularities. Key challenges facing the resources channelled to counties for climate-related projects include serious procurement irregularities leading to embezzlement, poor designs, kickbacks and the lack of community involvement in projects leading to implementation of less impactful projects. A report by GIZ and the Water Integrity Network in 2019 cites weakness in the systems and mechanisms for the implementation of the Multilateral Climate funds allocated for water project. The above paint a serious concern on how poor governance framework can hamstring the realisation of proposed intervention on Climate Change. Corruption and bad governance stand as the biggest hurdles since both undermine efforts to address the crises. From the enactment of weak laws and regulations to adequate enforcement of regulations on logging, waste disposal and emission controls and the embezzlements of the resources to help those affected, corruption and bad governance remain the cancer that will consume the results of the great talks.

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