Africa lagging behind in development of 'green' energy economy

Africa is lagging behind the rest of the world in developing renewable energy projects with initiatives aimed at producing clean and 'green' energy remaining largely under-exploited, according to a new report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). A UNEP assessment noted that the entire continent has just over 120 carbon market projects up and running or in the pipeline in areas ranging from wind power to forestry schemes, and harvesting methane gas from landfills to fuel electricity generation makes up 20% of all such initiatives. Larger economies in Africa such as Egypt and South Africa are home to the lion's share of the schemes, with 32 and 13 projects respectively, while Zambia, Madagascar, Cameroon and Mali only have one or two projects each and several countries have none, according to the report. The study also reported patchy growth in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol allowing developed countries to reduce emissions and meet global warming commitments by investing in carbon reduction projects in developing countries. However, the report highlighted Kenya and Uganda as exceptions with the number of carbon market projects underway in these countries jumping from two in 2007 to 15 and 12 respectively.