China, Japan coal funding ban keeps Africa in the dark

China, Japan coal funding ban keeps Africa in the dark

(MENAFN- Asia Times) Today's global energy inequities are staggering. Video gamers in California consume more electricity than entire nations . The average Tanzanian used only one-sixth of the electricity consumed by a typical American refrigerator in 2014. Globally, the top 10% of countries consume 20 times more energy than the bottom 10%. And 1. 1 billion sub-Saharan Africans share the same amount of power generation capacity as Germany's 83 million people. At least half have no access to electricity at all. These stark energy inequalities are fueling thorny debates around financing Africa's energy future as world leaders and their negotiators met at COP26, the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland . One increasingly common theme primarily from wealthy countries – including those responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions over time – is a vow that they will cease public funding for all (or nearly all) fossil fuel projects in less developed countries, even as they continue financing , and in many cases heavily subsidizing , fossil fuels in their own. It is generally easier for countries that offer overseas development finance for energy projects to make low-carbon rules for others, rather than for themselves. For example, China