Investigating the fast energy-related carbon emissions growth in African countries and its drivers

Efforts to avoid the acceleration of global warming have tended to focus on countries with high CO2 emissions levels and large populations, with a high level of economic development or industrialization. African countries, which often do not conform to such criteria, are more vulnerable to climate change due to their dependence on climate-sensitive industries and their limited infrastructure and technological capacity to cope with its impacts. The long-term economic growth rates projected for Africa's rapid development period will, further, make Africa a potential emission hotspot in the near future. Here, for the first time, we built an energy-related emissions inventory for 19 African countries for 2010–2019, which addresses emissions from 47 economic sectors and 5 energy types, making it the most comprehensive of its kind. The degree of decoupling of economy and emissions, and drivers of CO2 emission changes are also examined. Most African countries experienced rapid growth in CO2 emissions, with an average annual growth rate of 5.5% for fossil fuel-related CO2 emissions and 6.0% for unsustainable biomass-related CO2 emissions. Only two countries, South Africa and Tanzania, have achieved a strong decoupling of economic growth from CO2 emissions. Economic and population are the most important drivers of emissions, while energy intensity has been identified as a key factor in mitigating CO2 emissions, especially for those countries that have reached strong or weak decoupling. The findings from this study provide essential insights that could guide the development of low-carbon policies and strategies in Africa.