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COP28 states it is “bringing the world together to Unite, Act and Deliver.”  This is not true according to one small-scale farmer from Kenya who does not agree with transitioning Africa to “renewable energy.”

To you Western governments and environmental organisations preaching to us – climate change is not a problem in Africa, he said. “Africa needs fossil fuels.”

COP28 is being held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (“UAE”), from 30 November until 12 December 2023. According to its website, one of the highlights from COP28 is Kenya’s President Ruto convening African leaders to accelerate Africa’s Green Industrialisation Initiative, capitalising on the UAE’s Clean Energy Pipeline in Africa.

At the Summit, COP28 President Dr. Sultan Al Jaber launched the Global Decarbonisation Accelerator (“GDA”), a series of initiatives designed to “speed up the energy transition and drastically reduce global emissions.”

Under the GDA, 50 companies, representing over 40 per cent of global oil production have signed on to the Oil and Gas Decarbonisation Charter (“OGDC”), committing to zero methane emissions and ending routine flaring by 2030, and to total net-zero operations by 2050 at the latest. Over 29 National Oil Companies (“NOCs”) have committed to the Charter – the largest ever number of NOCs to sign up to a decarbonisation pledge. The OGDC is an important step towards the industry increasing actions aligned with the aims of the Paris Agreement, COP28’s website states.

Signatories to the Charter agree to target a number of key actions, including Investing in the energy system of the future including renewables, low-carbon fuels and negative emissions technologies.

The following is a video message from Jusper Machogu, a small-scale farmer in rural Kisii, Kenya, to the United Nations Global Climate Action Summit (“COP28″) currently being held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Dear COP28,

A MESSAGE from a Small Scale Farmer in rural Kisii Kenya to the UN COP 28 in UAE.

🧵 pic.twitter.com/saGAnaykAK

— Jusper Machogu (@JusperMachogu) November 29, 2023

Transcript

My name is Jusper Machogu, a small-scale farmer and agricultural engineer from Kenya and I have a message to the COP28, the UN COP28 meeting which is going to happen in Saudi Arabia [Machogu made an error and meant to say UAE]. 

And my message is: Africa needs fossil fuels.

We need fossil fuels to better our lives.  We need fossil fuels for economic development. 

You guys preaching to us  – the Western governments and environmental organisations preaching to us about climate change, climate change is not a big problem to Africans.

We have far bigger problems.  We have people sleeping hungry.  We have people who are very poor.  We have people without electricity.  We have people who don’t have access to clean water.  Those are our big problems.

We have people cooking with firewood and you telling us we should care about the environment, about climate change.  What climate change, anyway?

So my message to these leaders, to African leaders, is: Don’t be bribed, stand firm. Don’t even attend the COP28 meeting.  Those people who want to make decisions for us, policies for us, let them make those policies.  But we are going to say no to neo-colonialism in the name of climate change.  We should be all about human flourishing; Africans developing. 

And that’s my message.

A Message from a Small-Scale Farmer in Rural Kisii, Kenya, to the UN COP28 in UAE

Machogu followed his video with a Twitter thread which we have copied below, with a few minor edits and additional hyperlinks for clarity.  You can read his thread on Twitter HERE or the Threadreader app HERE.

Why does Africa need fossil fuels?

The energy industry powers every other industry. Because we want to flourish, we want to replace ~90% of SS Africa’s energy that comes from burning firewood and crop residue. But especially because we want to feed ourselves, beat hunger, and have the four pillars of modern civilization – cement, steel, plastics and synthetic fertilizers – all available thanks to fossil fuels (“FFs”).

Africa with 17% of the world’s population uses 5% of global synthetic fertilizers produced worldwide.

Why do I say we need more fertilizer in Africa for my people?

Average synthetic nitrogenous fertilizer use per hectare in kilogrammes:

• African 20
• US 120
• EU 150
• India 250
• China up to 350!

More fertilizer and farm machinery are how China is feeding its people!

The countries preaching solar and wind to us used and are still using lots of fossil fuels to power their civilization. And by the way, they preach solar and wind to us while they steal our fossil fuels.

But solar and wind are just electricity. Africa uses 4% of the global electricity generated.

My family of 6 uses 200 kWh per year. That’s less than a typical American refrigerator that consumes 500 kWh per year! And less by far when compared to an American who uses 13,000 kWh per year!

Because we are poor. We don’t have dishwashers, refrigerators, laundry, microwaves, etc. We use our electricity for lighting and charging phones, basically! So solar and wind isn’t the solution, UN!

When they are not doing that (I mean the Western governments and anti-humanist environmental organisations), they are busy bribing our leaders to have our fossil fuels! Or paying youth activists to stop fossil fuel development in Africa – like the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (“EACOP”) – for money, 5-star hotels and business flights.

Machines amplify and expand our capabilities and my mum could use some. In the US, machines reduced the time required for a man to produce a kilogramme of wheat from 10 minutes to 2 seconds in about 100 years. And farm machines aren’t going to be powered by intermittent dilute wind and solar.  Because electric machines, just like electric vehicles (“EVs”), are a pipe dream!

They help enslave my people in Congo where 40,000 children are working as artisanal miners – projected to rise to 800,000 by 2035 as red cobalt demand goes up by 20 times to make some rich Westerner feel good in his EV!

They help the anti-humanists NGOs and the African-hating UN (which did a piece on ‘The benefits of World Hunger’ a while back [the UN has since deleted the article]) to keep us poor – depopulation!

Too much of us, just enough of them! The organisations get to milk people with good hearts for aid funds and the UN keeps Africans poor.

The neo-colonial UN is hiding behind climate change now. And it is pushing the IMF and World Bank to Africans to ensure zero fossil fuel development (unless it is for Western nations), limited fertilizer use and high fuel prices, among other neo-colonial tactics the UN has perfected.

My message is: Let’s not attend the COP 28. Or if we do, let’s preach why we need economic development through access to more energy. Reliable energy from fossil fuels that we have in plenty. We don’t need aid. We have the solutions.

I have been brought up by parents who depended entirely on small-scale farming for a livelihood. I have worked on our tiny farms throughout my lifetime. This is the norm for 99% of the people in my community and over 70% of Kenyans.

I have a sustainable internship program for the UN, various environmental NGOs and personnel (if they didn’t block me) and people who would like to try the rural village life – you can check it out on my [Twitter below].

Fossil fuels for Africa!

Good morning from Kisii Kenya.
What is it like to live here without fossil fuels?
Some refer to it as 'Sustainable', I agree, only if its definition changes to 'break your back if you want to eat even though you'll be poor forever'

I am weeding our maize.
🧵 pic.twitter.com/9FY08Pql5W

— Jusper Machogu (@JusperMachogu) April 2, 2023

Remember to [visit] my Substack and learn more about me there. [See HERE.]

Sustainable Internship. [Frustrated with activists and world leaders telling African countries not to develop with coal, oil and gas, a farmer in Kenya told Cowboy State Daily that he’s offering an internship to educate people on life without fossil fuels.  Read more HERE.]

An interview I did with [philosopher and energy expert] Alex Epstein during the African Energy Week last month. [See video below.]

[In the video below, Alex Epstein dismantles the notion of a “just transition” and emphasises the critical requirement for abundant energy on the African continent in a compelling and solid conversation with Kenyan agricultural engineer Jusper Machogu. The discussion touches upon vital topics such as Africa’s potential, the limitations of alternative energy sources, and the importance of embracing fossil fuels to drive progress and prosperity in the region.]