Report Calls Out Europe for Using African Renewabl

Report Calls Out Europe for Using African Renewable Energy for Greenwashing

Greenpeace is calling out European nations for using renewable energy produced in Africa to ‘greenwash’ their economies. The Greenpeace report says that European-backed green energy projects in North Africa limit the region’s ability to decarbonize, keep it dependent on fossil fuel imports and force it to shoulder the environmental costs involved with burning fossil fuels.

Egypt and Morocco recently partnered with several European nations in a deal that would see the North African nations supply wind and solar energy to Europe over the next decade. The two countries are angling to position themselves as a key supplier to Europe as the continent accelerates its efforts to replace fossil fuels with cleaner alternatives.

However, many critics noted that Egypt and Morocco produce very little clean energy and wondered whether they’d be able to increase their production to meet the expected demand from Europe. Greenpeace now says that even if these countries can step up their green energy production, they should use it to decarbonize their economies rather than export it to Europe and continue using fossil fuels.

According to Greenpeace, European-funded green energy projects in Morocco and Egypt are displacing local communities and using an astronomical amount of water in regions that regularly deal with water scarcity. And despite planning to export megawatts of clean energy to Europe, the two countries remain net fossil fuel importers, the report says. They purchase tons of natural gas and oil and sell the little clean energy they produce to Europe, harming their communities and environments while making their economies reliant on fossil fuels.

Climate change already affects African nations disproportionately as they didn’t benefit from using fossil fuels like the Western world but are now suffering the consequences. Greenpeace argues that deals like the one between Europe, Egypt, and Morocco put African nations at a disadvantage by preventing them from decarbonizing their economies and eliminating fossil fuels from their energy mixes.

Energy companies in Europe pumped billions of dollars’ worth of investment into Egypt after the Russia-Ukraine war began to access the North African nation’s gas reserves. Greenpeace says that drilling by these energy firms has disrupted geological formations, contributed to soil erosion, and contaminated water supplies, benefiting European nations but leaving Egyptians much worse off. Worryingly, the report notes that Egypt is using more and more dirty fuels domestically to export more of its natural gas to Europe.

On the other hand, international think tank The Atlantic Council notes that international investment will be necessary for Egypt to build up the industry and infrastructure it requires to rapidly scale up its green energy sector. The think tank argues that strategic investments and forward-looking policies from the Egyptian government coupled with strong international partnerships can help Egypt develop into a worldwide renewable energy hub.

This report shines the spotlight on some of the approaches that European countries are taking to increase the contribution of clean energies in their energy mix. Perhaps they may need to engage private firms like Energy and Water Development Corp. (OTCQB: EAWD) to develop scalable solutions that don’t involve importing renewable energies from other countries or continents in order to switch away from fossil fuels in a locally impactful way.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Energy and Water Development Corp. (OTCQB: EAWD) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/EAWD

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