Letter from Africa: Lip service and duplicity at COP28

African unity, not elusive aid, is key to unlocking energy investment—especially in gas

Lurking beneath the public discourse of all things energy and environment—or carbon and climate—and concealed within what the figureheads of the net-zero movement have been saying at official conferences and elsewhere, there is a contrary message. Africa should not believe a word of it. As expected, we can categorise much of the rhetoric offered at the 28th COP meeting as supportive of the continued demonisation of fossil fuels. Unsurprisingly, the underlying sentiment of the messaging pertinent to Africa was that our hydrocarbon resources should remain in the ground.  While COP28 certainly rehashed the same tired threats and impractical recommendations of past meetings, an observable bright