The opening of the summit on 13 June which sees the participation of 4 African heads of state and the president of the African Development Bank
Action Aid which accuses Cassa Depositi e Prestiti of concentrating 80% of fossil investments abroad, with controversial projects such as the one in Mozambique. Amref recalls how climate change is upsetting many African countries such as Kenya, where floods have caused 200 deaths
There are just a few hours left until the G7 Summit opens in Borgo Egnazia, in the municipality of Fasano in Puglia. An event that will close its doors on June 15th.
Some African institutional figures will also be present at the event such as the president of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, who is also the rotating president of the African Union; the president of Algeria Abdelmadjid Tebboune, that of Tunisia Kais Saied, that of Kenya William Ruto, as well as the president of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina.
Interested attendance given that some of the topics addressed directly affect the continent. In fact, we will talk about climate change and development in Africa; Middle East; migrations.
Many civil society associations have taken the opportunity to present documents and reports in the hope that their voice will not, as always, go unheard.
Action Aid wrote a statement, for example, in which it denounces how the energy transition has been betrayed. «Italy continues to subsidize fossil fuels in Africa». He recalls how «investments in the energy sector, responsible for around 75% of greenhouse gas emissions, continue to favor fossil fuels over clean energy. Italy is 6th among the G20 countries for public subsidies for fossil fuels, behind Canada, South Korea, Japan, China and India, but ahead of the United States and Germany.”
Remember how the government wants to transform Italy into a energy hub based on gas, also using the Italian Climate Fund (4.4 billion euros). «Fund that will be used to finance Eni’s biofuels supply chain in Kenya».
Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and Mozambique
The NGO then cites the case of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and Mozambique
Over 80% controlled by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti is a national promotional bank and a development financial institution that should adopt advanced tools to detect and prevent risks. However, the analysis commissioned by ActionAid Italia with the help of ECCO Think Tank, a Perspective Climate Research highlights how CDP’s international energy portfolio is not at all aligned with the Paris Agreements.
«In addition to holding a significant stake in Eni (27.7%), Cassa Depositi e Prestiti does not join partnerships for the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from its operating activities and does not impose explicit bans on investments in coal, oil and fossil gas », writes Action Aid.
From 2016 to 2022 only a third of the 3 billion euros of its energy portfolio was allocated to clean energy projects, mainly (70%) in Italy, «while almost 80% of fossil investments are concentrated abroad, with controversial projects such as the one in Mozambique (569 million euros) in 2020.
In fact, although Mozambique is among the top ten countries in the world for gas reserves – and together with Egypt represents over 60% of CDP’s international energy portfolio in fossil fuels – it remains one of the countries with the lowest level of human development according to the United Nations.
The exploration of new gas sources has contributed to destabilizing an already fragile political context: since 2017 the country has been grappling with an armed insurrection fueled by natural resource interests in the province of Cape Delgado, which has forced over 700 thousand people to displace” depriving them of their means of subsistence.
Amref recommendations
Recommendations to the world’s greats also come from Amref. Remember that in a survey by Ipsos for Amref, in October 2023, it emerged that 89% of Italians «climate change is a serious threat to the entire world, especially when referring to the global health of individuals on the planet (90 %)”.
Again according to the same survey, for 60% of Italians “it is now too late to do anything, today we are paying the consequences of not having implemented effective and timely solutions to tackle climate change”.
The continent that suffers most from these climate changes is Africa, despite being responsible for less than 2-3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. With little means to adapt to the effects of global warming, it will once again pay a very high price for the lack of urgent action to address this challenge globally.
«We saw it a few weeks ago with the flood in Kenya, a country that is starting to have structures ready to respond to crises, and where climate change risks wiping out even those few infrastructures», writes Amref. Between the end of April and the beginning of May there were over 200 flood deaths.
A passage also on the Mattei Plan: «We strongly ask that Africa be listened to. For now we have talked about energy, migration, North Africa. This clearly gives the idea that the gaze is once again turned towards us. That path is wrong. Before we crash we must involve African interlocutors for a Plan with Africa.”
