US delegation pledges more support for green tech and clean energy
A high-ranking government official of the United States, Jonathan Pershing, this week visited Namibia to discuss clean energy and climate issues with his Namibian counterparts, and with members of the Namibian civil society.
Pershing reports to John Kerry, the first-ever Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and the first-ever Principal for climate change to sit on the US National Security Council.
Pershing and five other delegates arrived in Windhoek on Thursday, 30 September, as part of a visit to the region. The delegation included Power Africa coordinator, Mark Carrato.
The delegation’s meetings with Namibian officials covered a wide range of issues on climate change and clean energy, specifically what opportunities exist for Namibia and the United States to work together. Also on the table was the issue of raising global climate ambitions ahead of the United Nations climate change conference in Glasgow in November.
“Bold action to tackle the climate crisis is more urgent than ever,” Pershing said. “Transitioning to a net-zero economy is also the greatest economic opportunity of our lifetimes – it will speed our recovery, produce good jobs, and create entire new industries.”
“The United States understands that we need to mobilize more finance and support for adaptation. We have pledged to double US climate support for developing countries by 2024, and triple adaptation finance,” Pershing announced.
The delegation also spoke to Namibian officials about the recently launched Mega Solar initiative and ways to expand a strong partnership with the Namibian government on clean energy and low-emissions development in Africa. The potentially 5-gigaWatt Mega Solar partnership between the Governments of Namibia and Botswana, Power Africa, the African Development Bank, the World Bank International Bank of Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, and African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) can transform Namibia and Botswana into two of the globe’s most significant producers of solar power.
“The Mega Solar partnership demonstrates unprecedented leadership and collaboration and has extraordinary development potential for life and globe changing clean energy emanating from southern Africa. We wanted to hear directly from our Namibian partners about moving this opportunity from concept phase to action phase,” stated Carrato.
Deputy Special Envoy for Climate, Jonathan Pershing and Power Africa Coordinator, Mark Carrato held talks with Namibian officials to advance the Mega Solar project from concept to reality.
