Africa-Press – Botswana. The shift from fossil to green energy has to be a ‘just transition’.
No one should be disenfranchised until they have fully transitioned, Minister of Minerals and Energy Mr Lefoko Moagi has said.
In an interview with BOPA , he said transitioning from coal should take into account those currently dependent on the resource and how best to service them.
“If we have been dependent on lighting using coal which is our base load generation no one should forcefully stop us from using coal. How are we going to power our economy? The transition ought to be just,” he stated.
Stating that government remained committed to international agreements on reducing emissions towards attaining a green economy, Minister Moagi outlined efforts being made to that end.
They included bringing in improved technologies to help reduce emissions and all materials leading to depletion of the ozone layer resulting from the exploitation of Botswana’s abundant coal resources, he said.
Mr Moagi said renewable energy projects producing 135MW were under construction with a 200MW concentrated solar power plant project currently at procurement stage.
He said over and above the diverse renewable energy projects, Botswana had devised an Integrated Resource Plan for electricity generation, a natural energy policy and rooftop guidelines.
“We are committed to transitioning from one per cent we had in 2010 to 30 per cent reduced emissions by the year 2030, so that we bring the solar PVs, wind power, concentrate solar power and any other of these renewables,” said Mr Moagi.
The minister said remediation exercises conducted at Morupule A and B power plants showed emissions were no longer detectable because of the latest technologies employed.
Even by-products used in electricity generation were being replaced with advanced ones without high emissions, he said.
Mr Moagi said all the efforts were part and parcel of government’s submissions for preserving the environment.
That was because the next generation should find the planet a safe and habitable place, said the minister.
On another issue, Mr Moagi said government had set stringent standards for issuing mining licenses to ensure the country’s heritage sites were protected from invasive activities.
He dismissed as untrue allegations that communities residing in Botswana’s pristine and prestigious sites would be expelled to make way for mining activities.
For example, he said ReconAfrica, a company awarded a prospecting license in the North West District, was required to submit an environmental and social impact assessment report which should be filed with the oversight ministry.
That was to ensure all invasive activities to be conducted in the area would not be harmful to the community, explained Mr Moagi.
Subsequently, he added, the same report, detailing the company’s plans, would be submitted to UNESCO for assessment and verification, independent of Botswana.
Minister Moagi pointed out that government and communities depended on the activities to enhance GDP and for economic gain respectively.
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