Much of the attention at COP 26 is focused on emissions reductions and hitting global climate targets. But there’s a simmering underlying tension as the world’s high-income countries make demands on how lower-income countries — many of which are home to populations that lack access to energy — can generate electricity.
This push and pull between energy access and reducing climate emissions is particularly evident on the African continent, where nearly 600 million people still lack access to energy. The debate is central to the much-touted idea of a “just transition” to clean energy.
For many lower-income nations, it feels as if their wealthier counterparts are asking them to delay their industrialization and growth because of the global push for net-zero. Meanwhile, it’s those lower-income nations that will likely be hit hardest by climate change.