Africa: 2 Malawi cities endorse anti-fossil fuel treaty

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Proponents of a treaty supporting end of fossil fuel drilling are lobbying African countries to back the agreement that would essentially stop the continent from exploring its newly discovered resources.

The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative was first moved by the pacific countries of Vanuatu and Tuvalu at the Conference of Parties (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, in 2022.

On August 20, the initiative announced that two Malawian cities, Lilongwe and Mzuzu, had become the first in Africa to endorse the Treaty.

The Treaty aims at ensuring a proposed legal mechanism makes it harder for new fossil fuel projects to be launched. It also calls for existing production to be phased out as the world races to keep global temperature rise within 1.5°C.

Of Malawi’s 501MW of operational grid capacity, 63MW comes from carbon-emitting diesel plants, according to 2023 government statistics. About 10 per cent of the country’s total energy consumption comes from oil, 3 percent from hydro and 1 per cent from coal.

However, the country has no significant crude oil reserves or natural gas.“There is far too much sun shining, wind blowing and water flowing through our continent for us to continue deepening on fossil fuel extraction, which has failed to power our continent or enrich our people. Lilongwe and Mzuzu’s call for a Fossil Fuel Treaty is one that should be echoed across Africa for a people-centred just transition to renewable energy,” said Seble Samuel, Head of Africa Campaigns and Advocacy for the initiative.

So far, the treaty proposal has been endorsed by 13 countries.