China injects vitality into Africa's green transition, says Kenyan expert

This file photo taken on Aug. 14, 2015, shows the tropical grassland with few tress which is typical landscape of East African savanna in Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo)

NAIROBI, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Progress towards the realization of carbon neutrality in Africa has accelerated thanks to capital flows, technical and knowledge transfer to the continent facilitated by China, a Kenyan expert said on Monday.

Adhere Cavince, an international relations scholar noted that China has been in the frontlines of the transition to low carbon and sustainable development pathways in Africa, where climate change has taken a toll on livelihoods and vital ecosystems.

Adhere said in a commentary published by Capital FM, a local radio station news website that as Africa's largest partner and source of foreign direct investment, China has injected vitality into the continent's quest for climate resilience.

While observing that funding and technological bottlenecks have derailed Africa's green transition, Adhere hailed China's support towards the implementation of the continent's renewable energy programs.

"China has been the leading partner in the continent's desired to switch to solar and wind energy," Adhere wrote against a backdrop of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) underway in Glasgow, Scotland.

Quoting statistics from the International Renewable Energy Agency, Adhere observed that between 2009 and 2018, China upgraded solar capacity in Africa from 739 to 5,500 megawatts while wind energy installations during the same period jumped from 108 to 6,100 megawatts.

He said that a China-built 50-megawatt solar plant located in Kenya's eastern county of Garissa has increased the share of renewable energy to the national grid to 93 percent.

Adhere emphasized that concrete actions are required to realize a climate-resilient future for humanity.

He said that China's progressive actions ahead of COP26 that including launching a fund to promote biodiversity conservation and the pledge to discontinue financing coal plants abroad will revitalize climate response in the global south.

Adhere noted that China's climate stewardship nudged major economies to make tangible commitments at the ongoing COP26 to help developing countries withstand shocks related to a warming planet.

According to Adhere, the forthcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit in Dakar, Senegal, provides a platform to explore innovative ways the long-standing partners can reinvigorate the climate fight.

This file photo taken on March 7, 2019, shows giraffes walking on a grassland backdropped by Mount Kilimanjaro at Amboseli national park in Kenya. (Xinhua/Xie Han)