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Cranberry farms in Massachusetts — the second largest cranberry producing state in America — have had to adapt to weather extremes and unpredictability due to climate change

American farmers growing cranberries, a quintessential component of Thanksgiving feasts, have had to adapt their traditional methods to fight the effects of climate change.

The tart red berries, boiled with a heaping dose of sugar to make classic cranberry sauce, thrive only in the right environment — but climate change threatens to make conditions more unpredictable and extreme.

After a terrible 2021 season, Massachusetts farmer Billy McCaffrey is ecstatic for a bumper crop this year.

“Phenomenal, unbelievable,” the 70-year-old former teacher says, surrounded up to his waist by a sea of floating berries.

His cranberry farm, south of Boston, is one of hundreds in the northeastern US state of Massachusetts — the second largest producer after midwestern Wisconsin.

“Every year is up and down… I just hope we can keep it and get paid,” says McCaffrey, worrying that an unexpected hail storm could still cause disaster for him and his wife Mary.

The McCaffreys had worried that 2022 could see a repeat of the previous year, which the head of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association (CCCGA), Brian Wick, says was “one of our worst crops in quite some time.”

“The rains and the environment in the vine canopy created the perfect conditions for rot (and) fungus” the expert told AFP.

– ‘Double Whammy’ –

This year’s growing season started with a drought, the exact opposite of last year, but farmers were able to use pumps and water to keep their crops alive.

That eats into their bottom line.      

Now this year looks like one of the biggest crops ever with a prediction of 1.9 million barrels (189 million pounds) produced in Massachusetts according to the CCCGA.

Keith Mann, 54, has outfitted his large farm in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, with solar panels to help offset fuel costs. He has also installed several windmills on his property and sells electricity back to the grid.

Though he’s not sure the average temperatures have noticeably increased, Mann says the “weather extremes cause real troubles for us.”

“We had drought all summer… Then late in the summer we had torrential downpours, (which) caused flooding, and the flooding causes fungal infections.”

“Too much rain all at once is a problem. Not enough rain most of the season was another problem. Put them together it’s a double whammy,” said Mann.

As for this year’s Thanksgiving and those in the relative near future, Americans don’t need to rush and stock up on cranberry sauce just yet.

Farmers are adapting to the changing climate and producing new varieties to be processed by the massive Ocean Spray farm cooperative in Massachusetts.

“Thanksgiving, we get up for that. It drives us” said McCaffrey.

“You’re going to have to change your technique and tweak it a little bit at a time.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the three plants will run from the end of 2022 until April 2023

Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday ordered all three of Germany’s remaining nuclear power plants to stay operational until mid-April, breaking an impasse that had caused a rift among his coalition partners as an energy crisis looms.

Germany had initially planned to exit nuclear power by the end of the year, but Russia’s war in Ukraine and skyrocketing power prices since then have forced a rethink.

“The legal basis will be created to allow the operation of the nuclear power plants Isar 2, Neckarwestheim 2 and Emsland beyond December 31, 2022 until April 15, 2023,” Scholz said in a letter to cabinet ministers seen by AFP. 

Economy Minister Robert Habeck from the traditionally anti-nuclear Greens had recently said two of the three plants would be kept “on standby” until next spring, to help secure energy supplies if needed, in a major U-turn for the Greens.

But that did not go far enough for fellow coalition partner, the liberal FDP, who insisted the third plant, in Emsland in northern Germany, should also stay online. 

Repeated rounds of talks in recent days failed to resolve the row, and Scholz’s statement on Monday evening indicates he pulled rank.

– ‘Clarity’ –

In the letter, Scholz, from the centre-left Social Democrats, said he was invoking his authority as chancellor to issue a directive.

The order “is a smack in the face for Habeck”, wrote the topselling Bild daily.

Even more embarrassing, it comes after the Greens at a congress this weekend backed Habeck’s position on decommissioning the Emsland plant.

The FDP meanwhile celebrated Scholz’s decision to keep all three atomic plants online, although it fell short of their demand to extend their lifetimes until 2024.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner from the FDP, who has argued that Germany needs to use every energy source it has to help bring down prices and keep the lights on in Europe’s top economy, said Scholz had “provided clarity”.

“It is in the vital interest of our country and its economy that we maintain all power generation capacity this winter,” Lindner tweeted.

“We can create the legal basis together immediately. We will also work out viable solutions together for the winter of 2023/2024. People can count on that,” he wrote.

– Thunberg weighs in –

Green party co-leader Ricarda Lang criticised Scholz’s decision, saying “the Emsland nuclear power plant is not needed for grid stability”. 

The final word on the matter had yet to be spoken, Lang said. “We will have conversations about this,” she wrote on Twitter.

Lang did however welcome that Scholz had made clear that Germany would “definitively” quit atomic power by mid-April and that “no new fuel rods will be procured”.

Environmental group Greenpeace meanwhile slammed Scholz’s move as “irresponsible”.

“Extending the operating lives of nuclear power plants exposes us all to an unjustifiable risk,” said Greenpeace Germany’s executive director Martin Kaiser.

Former chancellor Angela Merkel had pushed through Germany’s nuclear exit in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster in 2011.

But Germany, which was heavily reliant on Russian gas and oil before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has been hit hard by the fallout from the war and the nation is now bracing for a painful recession.

The conflict has sent energy prices soaring and Russia in late August halted the flow of gas through the crucial Nord Stream 1 pipeline, leaving Germany racing to diversify energy supplies and build up reserves ahead of the colder winter months.

The country has even restarted mothballed coal-fired power plants.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg last week said it was “a mistake” for Germany to press ahead with its nuclear exit while ramping up its coal usage.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the three plants will run from the end of 2022 until April 2023

Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday ordered all three of Germany’s remaining nuclear power plants to stay operational until mid-April, breaking an impasse that had caused a rift among his coalition partners as an energy crisis looms.

Germany had initially planned to exit nuclear power by the end of the year, but Russia’s war in Ukraine and skyrocketing power prices since then have forced a rethink.

“The legal basis will be created to allow the operation of the nuclear power plants Isar 2, Neckarwestheim 2 and Emsland beyond December 31, 2022 until April 15, 2023,” Scholz said in a letter to cabinet ministers seen by AFP. 

Economy Minister Robert Habeck from the traditionally anti-nuclear Greens had recently said two of the three plants would be kept “on standby” until next spring, to help secure energy supplies if needed, in a major U-turn for the Greens.

But that did not go far enough for fellow coalition partner, the liberal FDP, who insisted the third plant, in Emsland in northern Germany, should also stay online. 

Repeated rounds of talks in recent days failed to resolve the row, and Scholz’s statement on Monday evening indicates he pulled rank.

– ‘Clarity’ –

In the letter, Scholz, from the centre-left Social Democrats, said he was invoking his authority as chancellor to issue a directive.

The order “is a smack in the face for Habeck”, wrote the topselling Bild daily.

Even more embarrassing, the order comes after the Greens at a congress this weekend backed Habeck’s position on decommissioning the Emsland plant.

The FDP meanwhile celebrated Scholz’s decision to keep all three atomic plants online, although it fell short of their demand to extend their lifetimes until 2024.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner from the FDP, who has argued that Germany needs to use every energy source it has to help bring down prices and keep the lights on in Europe’s top economy, said Scholz had “provided clarity”.

“It is in the vital interest of our country and its economy that we maintain all power generation capacity this winter,” Lindner tweeted.

“We can create the legal basis together immediately. We will also work out viable solutions together for the winter of 2023/2024. People can count on that,” he wrote.

– Thunberg weighs in –

Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, from the Greens, likewise said Scholz had brought “clarity”, and highlighted that his decision confirmed Germany remained committed to quitting atomic power.

“Germany will finally phase out nuclear energy on April 15, 2023. There will be no lifetime extension and no new fuel rods,” Lemke wrote on Twitter.

But Environmental group Greenpeace slammed Scholz’s move as “irresponsible”.

“Extending the operating lives of nuclear power plants exposes us all to an unjustifiable risk,” said Greenpeace Germany’s executive director Martin Kaiser.

Former chancellor Angela Merkel had pushed through Germany’s nuclear exit in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster in 2011.

But Germany, which was heavily reliant on Russian gas and oil before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has been hit hard by the fallout from the war and the nation is now bracing for a painful recession.

The conflict has sent energy prices soaring and Russia in late August halted the flow of gas through the crucial Nord Stream 1 pipeline, leaving Germany racing to diversify its energy supplies and build up reserves.

The country has even restarted mothballed coal-fired power plants.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg last week said it was “a mistake” for Germany to press ahead with its nuclear exit while ramping up its coal usage.

BP has benefitted from surging oil prices after economies reopened post-Covid and since the Russian invasion of Ukraine

BP has agreed to buy US renewable gas producer Archaea for $4.1 billion to help the British oil giant reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, the pair said Monday.

The London-listed energy major is flush with cash after recent surges in oil prices that have triggered calls for the cash-strapped UK government to massively enlarge a windfall tax on British energy giants.

Chief executive Bernard Looney said in a statement Monday that the acquisition of Archaea would create “a real leader in the biogas sector, and support our net zero ambition”.

Houston-based Archaea produces renewable natural gas equivalent in amount to about 6,000 barrels of oil per day.

BP will pay $3.3 billion in cash plus around $800 million in debt, while the purchase remains subject to regulatory and Archaea shareholder approvals.

The UK energy titan is attempting to pivot towards cleaner fuels to help tackle climate change.

In June, BP said it was taking a 40.5 percent stake in an Australian energy project being billed as one of the world’s largest renewable power stations.

But energy majors are often faced with charges of corporate greenwashing, especially by environmentalists.

Greenpeace UK policy director Doug Parr said Monday that with Britain’s new finance minister Jeremy Hunt U-turning on tax cuts to limit state debt, “why not consider a full and proper windfall tax on oil and gas?”.

He added: “This government has already made more U-turns than a battalion on parade — one more won’t hurt and it’s the right one.”

The government of previous UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled a windfall tax on the profits of British energy companies earlier this year but that was deemed as far too small.

Even the outgoing head of BP’s rival Shell recently indicated that governments should “probably” tax energy firms more to help protect the poorest from rocketing energy bills.

“One way or another, there needs to be government intervention… that somehow results in protecting the poorest,” Ben van Beurden told an energy conference earlier this month.

“And that probably means governments need to tax people in this room to pay for it — I think we just have to accept as a societal reality.”

So far, Prime Minister Liz Truss — a former Shell employee — has refused to extend the windfall tax.

Oil, gas and electricity prices have all surged this year after major economies reopened from pandemic lockdowns — and following the invasion of Ukraine from major energy producer Russia.

Iranian 'kamikaze' drones were spotted in an attack on Kyiv on Monday

The use by Russia of Iranian drones in its war against Ukraine makes clear the weaknesses of its domestic industry and Tehran’s growing claim on the market for unmanned aircraft, experts say.

Washington believes Iran has delivered hundreds of drones, which Ukrainian officials say are now being used in strikes like those launched against cities and energy infrastructure on Monday.

– What drones has Iran delivered? –

So far two models of Iranian drone have been identified in Ukraine’s skies, built for two different purposes.

One of them, the Shahed 136, is a relatively low-cost “kamikaze drone” that can be programmed to fly automatically to a set of GPS coordinates with a payload of explosives.

“It flies quite low, striking a target that must be stationary at a range of a few hundred kilometres,” said Pierre Grasser, a researcher tied to Paris’ Sorbonne University.

One was photographed by an AFP journalist plunging into Kyiv early Monday.

The second type, the Mohajer-6, is “similar in size and functionality to the Bayraktar TB-2 drone from Turkey,” said Vikram Mittal, a professor at the US military academy in West Point.

The Turkish model’s missile strikes on Russian armour made the Bayraktar a symbol of successful Ukrainian resistance to invasion early in the war, with a propaganda song composed about them widely shared online.

Both drones belong to a type broadly referred to as MALE (Medium Altitude, Long Endurance) unmanned aircraft, like the US-made Predator used in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

The TB-2 was also used by Azerbaijan in its 2020 war with neighbouring Armenia to retake part of the Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenian control.

– Are Iranian drones effective? –

“Just like any armed drone or loitering munition, they’re very effective when the enemy has no way of protecting themselves or fighting back,” said Jean-Christope Noel, a researcher at the French Institute for International Relations.

Mittal said much of their initial success comes “from being a new weapon on the battlefield.”

“The Ukrainians will eventually shoot down or capture one of the drones, dissect it, and develop counter-drone systems,” he added, although that “could take months”.

For now, Kyiv’s forces could use shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles to attack the drones in daylight, or radar-equipped versions at night.

They could also attempt to use complex GPS jamming techniques to turn the Shahed 136 off course, as they have no backup system to reach their target without satellite guidance.

Such kamikaze drones are “a money-saving move for Russia, because it saves valuable cruise missiles worth $1.5 million to $2.0 million” per shot, Grasser said.

But “their main shortcoming is they can only hit stationary targets,” he added.

“They don’t pose any threat to troops in the field. The arrival of these drones therefore shouldn’t change the course of the fighting.”

– Is Russia’s industry failing? –

Russia is one of the world’s largest arms producers, but has still found itself forced to turn to Iran in this case.

“The defence ministry has worked out tactical and technical requirements for drones. And unfortunately most (Russian) manufacturers can’t meet them,” Russian colonel Igor Ischchuk recently told the country’s TASS news agency.

Although no Russian manufacturer offers long-range kamikaze drones like the Shahed 136, “they are supposed to have equipment along the lines” of the TB-2 or Mohajer MALE drones, Grasser said.

“The fact they’re taking Iranian drones is an admission of industrial failure… it shows (Russian industry) can’t keep up the pace,” he added.

Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine have hit a Russian industry already sapped by supply chain disruption during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Russia “no longer has access to Western technological components, and their attempts to mass-produce these types of devices have been fruitless,” Noel said.

– Iranian-Turkish rivalry? –

As drones become more fundamental to fighting wars, “there is likely somewhat of a mid-tier, cheap drone arms-race between the Iranians and Turks to try to gain control of the market and expand their country’s sphere of influence,” Mittal said.

While the US and Israel host the world’s top-of-the-line manufacturers, “the Turkish drones are a step down, but they are more reliable than the Iranian drones, which don’t seem very precise,” French drone expert Marianne Renaux said.

Tehran can already count on some buyers for its product in the Middle East in Yemen, Lebanon or Iraq, Noel said.

“But American sanctions against any customers make for a hard limit on the number of candidates who might like to arm themselves with this gear,” he added.

The bridge connects directly at both ends with one of Europe's busiest motorways

Two UK climate protesters scaled a major road bridge over the River Thames on Monday causing huge traffic delays, days after activists threw tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” masterpiece.

The Just Stop Oil protesters climbed more than 80 metres (260 feet) up one of the towers of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which is used by an estimated 160,000 vehicles a day and links up to one of Europe’s busiest motorways.

One activist said he was protesting because government policies were accelerating the climate emergency.

The closure caused major delays for motorists for whom the bridge, known as the Dartford Crossing, is the only way to cross the Thames to the east of London.

“Two people climbed up onto high cables early this morning,” Essex Police said on Twitter.

“The QEII bridge is closed to allow us to resolve the situation as safely as possible.” 

One of the protesters, Morgan Trowland, posted on Twitter a clip of himself at the top of the bridge.

“I’m willing to do this ‘cos I’m not willing to sit back and see everything burn,” he wrote.

The 39-year-old, who said he was a bridge design engineer, said he felt compelled to take action because of government policies.

“Our government has enacted suicidal laws to accelerate oil production — killing human life and destroying our environment,” he said.

“I can’t challenge this madness in my desk job, designing bridges, so I’m taking direct action, occupying the QE2 bridge until the government stops all new oil.”

Another protester, identified as Marcus, a 33-year-old teacher, added: “Only direct action will now help to reach the social tipping point we so urgently need.”

Police said the bridge, which is used for southbound traffic, was closed before dawn. Traffic was diverted through a tunnel under the river, which is normally only used for northbound traffic.

“This incident may take some time to resolve due to the complexities of safely getting people down from height,” an Essex police spokesman added.

The bridge, 30 kilometres (18 miles) east of central London, connects directly at both ends with the M25 London Orbital route.

On Saturday, two protesters appeared in court a day after throwing tomato soup over the van Gogh painting at London’s National Gallery.

The painting itself was protected by a screen but damage was caused to the frame, according to the gallery in Trafalgar Square.

Also on Saturday, nearly 30 demonstrators from the group glued themselves to the tarmac when they blocked a major road in east London.

UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman has threatened a police clampdown on “direct-action” protests, including by Just Stop Oil.

Just Stop Oil says climate change poses an existential crisis for humanity and its direct tactics are justified.

Camp Ma'an reserve in southern Cameroon is home to endangered gorillas and elephants

Banana growers on the edge of a giant national park on Cameroon’s Atlantic coast say they can take no more crop destruction from hungry elephants as the conflict between man and animal escalates.

Near the southern border with Equatorial Guinea, eight villages have registered complaints with the Campo Ma’an national park, a vast area of virgin forest from where the animals emerge.

An estimated 500 gorillas and more than 200 elephants — both endangered species — roam the reserve’s 264,000 hectares (652,000 acres).

A week after elephants flattened his banana plantation close by the park, Simplice Yomen, 47, is struggling to cope.

“We are at the end of our tether,” he sighs.

The elephants eat the new growth inside the banana tree trunks after splitting them open.

Manioc, maize, sweet potato and peanuts are also favourite snacks, says park administrator Michel Nko’o.

In Cameroon, co-existence between humans and animals on the edge of dense forests is proving increasingly challenging. 

Most of the crop destruction is recorded near protected wildlife reserves.

For Nko’o, the elephant raids have become noticeably more frequent since agro-industrialists began setting up by the park.

More 2,000 hectares of forest has been chopped down to grow palm oil trees for Cameroun Vert, an industrial plantation project for which the government first approved a clearing of 60,000 hectares before reducing it to 39,000 hectares after protests.

“The elephants who lived here no longer have any place to go and end up in people’s fields,” regrets park conservationist Charles Memvi.

– ‘Discouraging’ –

Affected villages near the town of Campo have seen “three to four hectares of plantations destroyed, which is a major financial loss for the local people”, says Nko’o.

Elephants are blamed for 80-90 percent of the attacks. 

The rest is accounted for by gorillas, chimpanzees, hedgehogs, pangolins and porcupines.

Nearly all these species are endangered due to habitat loss and/or poaching.

Daniel Mengata’s two hectares of banana trees were “devastated” in 2020.

“The animals really are discouraging us,” the 37-year-old admitted.

“I started crying after seeing the damage because in one night a year’s work was wiped out. That really hurts.” 

“I can no longer feed my family,” adds Emini Ngono, 57. Hungry elephants have ruined her smallholding, which once produced gourds, manioc and potato.

Ngono says she could make more than 1,000 euros ($970) from selling seeds for gourds, a traditional stable food across the region.

 

– Reconciliation –

Not far off, logs of wood extracted from the forest are piling up.

The high-pitched noise from a saw masks the birdsong as a group of trackers set off looking for rare gorillas.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) launched a “primate habituation” project a decade ago focused on gorillas in a bid to develop ecotourism in the area.

Part of the income was to go to local communities to encourage them to help protect the animals and reduce the conflict with humans.

Chimene Mando’o is out tracking primates.

“There! That’s Akiba”, the 25-year-old cries after the gorilla calls out.

Shortly after, Akiba — meaning “thank you” in the local Mvae language — briefly appears at the foot of a tree just a dozen metres (yards) away, before scampering off into the jungle.

“We have to find a way to generate some development … in such a way that everyone benefits from this natural resource,” explains WWF biodiversity economist Yann Laurans.

The ministry for forests and wildlife says Cameroon has no legal framework to compensate people after attacks by animals from national parks.

The WWF is testing and studying an insurance system to cover people who lose their livelihoods to animal attacks.

Smallholder Simplice Yomen is hoping for a more secure future after setting up beehives to dissuade elephants from encroaching on his plantation.

Others are trying lemon trees and other spiky bushes to keep the elephants out.

The coal plant at Pego has fallen silent, part of Portugal's new policy of switching to renewables

As the UN steps up calls to make the switch to renewable energy to fight the global climate emergency, Portugal is among the first European Union countries to abandon coal.

It will share the lessons it has learned so far at November’s COP27 UN climate summit in Egypt.

It has been nearly a year now since smoke has trailed up from the cooling towers of the coal plant in Pego, 120 kilometres (70 miles) northeast of the capital Lisbon.

The lights are off at the station, and the dust gathering on the steel structure attests to the fact that the last coal plant in Portugal shut down in November last year after 30 years in service.

The authorities in Lisbon shut down this fossil-fuel eight years sooner than planned — and just months after the Sines coal plant, some 90 kilometres south of Lisbon, closed at the start of 2021.

Portugal is one a handful of EU member states — along with Belgium and Sweden — to have renounced coal as an energy source.

The energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine prompted Austria to reverse a previous decision to close coal-fired plants.

Portugal however “remains convinced that it will not be necessary to renege on this decision,” Environment Minister Duarte Cordeiro said in mid-September.

– ‘An example in Europe’ –

“Portugal is an example in Europe,” says Pedro Nunes, an expert in renewable energy at the University of Lisbon, and policy officer with the environmental group Zero.

The two coal plants recently closed accounted for nearly 20 percent of Portugal’s greenhouse gases, he points out.

To replace coal’s contribution to electricity production, the government hopes to continue developing its green energy to provide 80 percent of its energy by 2026, up from 40 percent in 2017.

If the share of renewables in electrical output hit nearly 60 percent in 2021, the figure dropped back to 40 percent this year owing to a historic drought which slashed hydro-electric power.

The UN’s World Meteorological Organization called Tuesday for the world to double the supply of electricity from renewables by 2030 to prevent climate change from undermining global energy security.

Electricity has not only been a major source of carbon emissions driving climate change, but it is also vulnerable to the effects of a warming planet, the WMO said.

Portugal is aiming to increase its wind power and solar capacity — it currently ranks 8th and 13th respectively in Europe. But it remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels, which accounted for 71 percent of its energy mix in 2020, according to Eurostat.

In this transition phase, the strategy “initially passes via electricity produced by gas plants, which are one-third less polluting than coal”, said Nunes.

– Imports rising –

Portugal has used natural gas-fired combined cycle power plants like the one running since 2011 on the Pego site, next to the decommissioned coal plant. It is scheduled to run until 2035.

“It’s not by chance” that Portugal has been among the first in Europe to abandon coal, says Pedro Almeida Fernandes, tasked with renewable energies for the Portuguese subsidiary of Spain’s Endesa.

The country has been preparing for its energy transition “for a long time”, he says.

Endesa won the contract to reconvert by 2025 the Pego coal plant into a complex combining solar power, wind energy and green hydrogen. This is, after all, a place that enjoys 300 days of sunshine per year.

With that kind of resource, Portugal aims to increase solar power production by 50 percent to three gigawatts, in 2022 alone, according to a government estimate.

Nevertheless, Pedro Clemente Nunes, an energy specialist at Lisbon’s Technical University, said the country’s move away from coal had been “badly planned” in Portugal.

For a year, Portugal “considerably increased its electrical imports” from neighbouring Spain which “continues to produce energy from coal,” he said.

Senegalese fishermen say they are being excluded from the future planned out by the state

The new offshore gas terminal appears through the morning mist cloaking the Atlantic Ocean near Saint Louis, where Senegal meets Mauritania.

It has been hailed as a new economic beginning in developing Africa, and condemned as a new source of pollution in a world suffocating from global warming.

On the beach, a dugout canoe is hauled up the wet sand after a night’s fishing.

“Not a lot of fish,” scowls El Hadji Gaye, his eye catching the giant structure nearly 10 kilometres (six miles) out at sea.

Senegal, like the Democratic Republic of Congo, has discovered oil and gas reserves, raising hopes of future riches and industrialisation.

They have no intention of yielding to appeals to leave lucrative oil and gas in the ground in the name of fighting climate change.

Senegalese President Macky Sall says it would be “an injustice” and he has launched a diplomatic counter-offensive to justify extracting the resources, starting next year.

“Not being the greatest polluters since we are not industrialised, it would be unfair in the search for a solution (to global warming) to ban Africa from using the natural resources which are underground,” Sall told visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in May.

And the message seems even more likely to be heard now that Europeans, facing a major energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are looking to diversify their oil and gas supplies.

– ‘Exacerbate’ global warming –

Niger, the world’s poorest country according to the UN’s Human Development Index, is also building Africa’s longest oil pipeline — a nearly 2,000-kilometre (1,250-mile) link to Benin that will enable it to export crude from as early as next year.

Greenpeace Africa’s ocean campaign manager Aliou Ba stressed that exploiting fossil fuel deposits will further “exacerbate” the climate crisis, with efforts to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius looking increasingly forlorn.

Francois Gemenne, an expert with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said: “When you are poor it is very difficult to give up on treasure, so something more interesting has to be on offer.

“What’s at stake is that these countries can and do choose a decarbonised economy.

“And that requires the transfer of technology and investment in renewables, which is still generally lacking.”

The pre-COP27 talks held in Kinshasa at the start of October heard calls for alternative technologies and major financing to sustain a green transition.

But the government of the vast, rainforest-covered DRC is standing by its right to exploit petrol and gas, despite criticism from environmental groups warning against the release of huge quantities of carbon.

At the pre-COP gathering, Congolese Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde pointed out that some European nations have returned to burning highly polluting coal due to gas shortages triggered by the Russian invasion.

He warned against “discrimination”, “with certain states free to carry on or even increase their emissions, and others prevented from exploiting their natural resources”.

DRC senior climate negotiator Tosi Mpanu Mpanu sees a positive outcome. “Paradoxically, it’s the oil money that is seen as dirty which will allow us to have sufficient means to take back our environmental sovereignty and reduce emissions caused by deforestation,” he said.

– ‘Radical change’ –

Senegal’s oil and gas discoveries account for only 0.07 percent and 0.5 respectively of world reserves.

But Energy and Oil Minister Sophie Gladima said “they are important enough to radically change the economy and industrial fabric of our country and thereby its future prospects.”

“Just exploiting our hydrocarbons will enable us to accelerate public access to electricity and above all to lower the cost of production and encourage industrialisation.”

She underlined the legal framework needed to bring thousands of Senegalese jobs into the sector, and the setting up of the National Institute of Oil and Gas to turn out a highly qualified workforce.

But fishermen say they are being excluded from the future planned out by the state.

As the launch of gas production draws closer, the authorities are stepping up their control over the offshore platform.

A security perimeter has been set up and a boat patrols the coastline to block any seafarer tempted to cross an invisible barrier.

“This place was where we found most fish,” says El Hadji.

“Now we are caught in a trap because we can no longer go there or further north into Mauritanian waters,” the 39-year-old fisherman adds.

Behind him more than a dozen of his comrades chant rhythmically as they push their multicoloured canoe over the sand, following centuries-old traditions on a narrow strip of land separating the Senegal river from the Atlantic Ocean.

“I only know how to fish. My parents fished, my grandparents also. What will I become? What will my children do?” El Hadji asks.

He turns and looks at his friends, the waves crashing. In the distance, the gas platform looms above the ocean.

Can South Africa put a stop to its dependence upon coal?

Miner Thokozani Mtshweni, 37, looks spent as he readies for a 12-hour shift huddled under a carport shelter to avoid the scorching sun. He fixes his belt weighed down by an oxygen tank and gas detecting tools. 

An hour’s drive from Johannesburg, Khutala Colliery is among more than 100 coal mines and a dozen coal-fired plants that dot the industrial landscape of the northeastern province of Mpumalanga, an area known as South Africa’s coal belt.

Workers kitted in soiled yellow overalls breathe in the hazy air as they wait to board trucks that will drive them to an underground shaft. 

“Closing these mines would affect our lives a lot,” Mtshweni tells AFP. “It would be chaos”.

Coal is a bedrock of South Africa’s economy, employing almost 100,000 people and accounting for 80 percent of electricity production. 

But the sector’s future is uncertain, as Africa’s most industrialised economy looks to wean itself off the carbon-emitting fuel in line with global efforts to tackle climate change. 

Last year, the government secured $8.5 billion in loans and grants from a group of rich nations to finance the transition to greener alternatives.

Fraught negotiations around how the money should be spent are expected to end before the COP27 climate summit in Egypt in November.

Supporters hope the money could act as a catalyst to transform the energy landscape in what is one of the world’s top 12 largest polluters. 

But questions remain over the country’s ability to make swift inroads towards its goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

– Money and jobs –

“Significantly more funding” will be needed, said Daniel Mminele, who heads the finance task team of a climate commission set up by President Cyril Ramaphosa. 

A study by South Africa’s Stellenbosch University put the figure at $250 billion over the next 30 years. 

Recent studies suggest more jobs will be created than lost by going green, but analysts say the swap will not be painless. 

The coal industry is concentrated in Mpumalanga, which accounts for about 80 percent of all coal production.

“We need coal,” says Isaac Mahumapelo, a Khutala Colliery section manager, as piles of the black stuff are crushed behind him. 

“The cities, the towns in and around Mpumalanga have been established through the coal mines.”

Trade unions worry job losses will not be reabsorbed by the renewable sector. Unemployment is above 30 percent nationwide. 

“Wind and solar is not engineered in South Africa, it is fabricated elsewhere,” says energy analyst Tshepo Kgadima.

After a decade spent in the pits, Mtshweni, the miner, is among those fearing for their future.

“Everyone is dependent on this coal to provide for their loved ones,” he says. 

International pressure on South Africa to clean up its act is seen with antipathy by some. 

Europe’s renewed appetite for coal in the wake of the gas crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is often cited as evidence of double standards.

“Coal will still be around for some time and whilst we wish to collaborate … Let’s have our own agenda that realistically recognises the socio-economic imperatives of South Africa,” says Mike Teke, CEO of Khutala Colliery’s operator, Seriti.

– No turning back –

Yet, things are starting to move.

Khutala Colliery lies near Kendal, an industrial town surrounded by coal silos and plumes of thick smoke.

The mine feeds a nearby power station — one of the world’s largest — operated by state energy firm Eskom. 

The plant and neighbouring mines are surrounded by maize and livestock farms.

Cattle graze under the grey polluted skies. Lumps of coal sit on the side of the road as trucks come and go. 

Still, Seriti recently set up a green energy branch to invest in wind and solar. 

“We need to diversify in line with what might be coming,” says Teke.  

Climate activists have tried to force the government to push the throttle forward by taking it to court. 

In a first victory this year, judges ordered authorities to reduce pollution in Mpumalanga — which Greenpeace says has some of the dirtiest air in the world. 

As Eskom’s ageing plants struggle to produce enough energy to keep the lights on, the government has laid out plans to ramp up renewables. 

Acting is a must, says Gaylor Montmasson-Clair, an economist at the Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies, a think tank, warning the cost of sticking to coal will be much higher in the long term.

The European Union is set to introduce a carbon tax on imports — a move that could be followed by other countries, and hit economies like South Africa hard, he warns. 

“If we do not decarbonise, job losses will be significant. We’ll lose our access to markets and finance,” he says. 

“Not transitioning is not an option. The consequences will be dire”.