Museveni message to COP27: A country in a rush to pump its oil?

Last week, as African leaders who attended the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Egypt pressed the West to fund programmes aimed at helping them contain some of the catastrophic effects of climate change, President Museveni issued a statement in Kampala, accusing Western governments of “reprehensible double standards”.

Mr Museveni seemed to have targeted Germany which had proposed that it would have phased out coal-fired power plants by 2030, but has since moved to expand coal-fuelled power plants.
“As Europeans switch their coal-fired plants back on while still demanding fossil-fuel generation remains beyond the pale for Africans. It makes a mockery of Western commitments to climate targets and their promises to help speed African development all in one breath,” Mr Museveni’s statement reads in part.
Germany, which had proposed that it would have phased out coal-fired power plants by 2030, has since moved to demolish a vast wind farm and open a new open-pit coal mine to bridge an energy deficit precipitated by Russia’s decision to tap off gas supplies. Russia’s move was in retaliation for the sanctions that were imposed upon it following its invasion of Ukraine in February.

Mr Museveni, who did not attend the summit, opting to send a team including First Deputy Prime Minister Rebecca Kadaga and State minister of Environment Beatrice Anywar, practically called on Africa to stand up to the West.
“Dialling down the brazen double-standards is what we desire, along with the lifting of the moratorium on fossil fuel investments for Africa herself so we can meet the needs of our own people,” he wrote.
Prof Sabiti Makara, who teaches Political Science at Makerere University, supports Mr Museveni’s decision to call out the West for double standards.
“Why should we not go ahead and develop our own natural resources if the West is going ahead with pipeline projects in their own countries and on mainland Europe? Why are they talking of paying Uganda and other countries not to extract and export oil and gas when they are opening up their own oil and gas industries?” Prof Makara argues.

Incomparable?
However, Ms Christine Kaaya Nakimwero, the Shadow minister for Water and Environment, argues that what is reprehensible is that Mr Museveni should push for the South to abuse its own environment and expose itself to the effects of climate change just because the West did so.
“It is like when law enforcers take two thieves, one who has stolen a cockerel and another who has stolen billions of shillings to court and the one who stole a cockerel says, ‘Why should you bother about me who stole a cock? You should be bothered about those who steal billions’. Because they have emitted a lot, we are also telling them, ‘Please don’t over complain about us because for us we have almost not emitted anything.’ That is the saga in which we are locked with the West,” Ms Nakimwero says.

If Mr Museveni had sent out the statement in the hope that it would have the effect of provoking anti-West sentiments and disunity, it instead galvanised Africa. The continent marked a special day at COP27. 
Mr Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, gave insights into the work that was being done to combat climate change.
“Work is going on across the continent—many governments have rolled out initiatives to address climate impacts and build resilience,” Mr Mahamat said at the event that was held on the sidelines of the main conference.

Why the message?
It is projected that the extraction of Uganda’s oil will cause the emission of at least one million tonnes of carbon every year yet we have not put in place mechanisms for offsetting the effects of those emissions.
Mr Fredrick Oweyegha Afunadula, who previously taught environmental studies at Makerere University, thinks that it is deliberate.
“He [President Museveni] has all the information and knows what the world is talking about, but chooses to ignore,” Mr Afunadula says.
Ms Nakimwero, who represents Kiboga women in Parliament on the ticket of the National Unity Platform (NUP), believes that his actions had a lot more to do with the September vote of the European Union (EU) Parliament that sought to compel Uganda, Tanzania and the TotalEnergies to delay development of the proposed East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) by at least one year, citing environmental considerations.
According to the legislator, the vote came at a time when Uganda is eager to start extracting the oil amid a sustained campaign against the use of fossil fuels.

“Uganda is in a dilemma. The price of fossil fuels is going down because consumption of fossil fuels is being discouraged yet the cost of inputs required for one to extract oil remain high. The season is for promotion of clean energy, so it becomes difficult to fetch the kind of prices that we had anticipated. If we delay any longer we shall get less money, but even if we hurriedly go for extraction we are also not at per with the safeguards that we need to put in place in order to mitigate the effects of extraction,” Ms Nakimwero says.

Discordance
It should, however, be noted that Mr Museveni’s message was in discordance with the speeches made by most of the African leaders at the summit held in the resort city of Sharm el Sheikh.
They not only demanded for justice and reparations for the damage that the West has caused Africa, they were pressing the West to honour commitments made under the terms of previous COP meetings. The West committed to provide the South with funding to the tune of $100b a year to help it deal with the climate crisis.

They also gave insights into the strides that some of them had taken in order to move away from reliance on fossil fuels.
“We need a clear roadmap to deliver on the Glasgow decision to double adaptation financing by 2025, our emphasis must be on the health, well-being, and food and water security of the most vulnerable people in the world,” South African president Cyril Ramaphosa said.
“We are already scaling up investment in renewable energy and are on a course to retire a number of aging coal-fired power stations. The amount of money that is needed for South Africa to embark on this difficult journey is close on to $90 trillion.”
Kenyan president William Ruto, the chairperson of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change, who at his swearing in referred to Mr Museveni as “the father of the (East African) region” also sent out a message focusing on clean energy and reduction of carbon emissions.

“I am convinced of the need to more comprehensively showcase the opportunities that abound in Africa, such as green energy, smart agriculture, de-carbonised manufacturing, e-mobility and green building, all aimed at the attainment of zero carbon by 2050,” Mr Ruto said. The father and son of the region were not reading from the same page here.
Rwanda’s Paul Kagame used the conference as a pad to launch the Ireme Invest, which will enable Rwanda’s private sector to access what Rwanda describes as green finance. He too emphasized clean energy.
“Climate adaptation requires big changes in how we produce and consume energy. How we move around, all that depends on climate adaptation and change. What we eat, and how it’s grown. All that comes together. In short the entire economy is affected, which means the private sector has a tremendous role to play,” Mr Kagame said at the launch.

Lost message
It is difficult to tell whether Mr Museveni was hoping against hope that consensus would elude attendees to the conference.
“Should no climate agreement be signed at COP27 in Egypt this week, we should all recognise who is responsible,” the President said as he concluded his statement. 
It would, however, appear that his call and message were lost amid the sea of calls for Africa to embrace clean energy.