Green Transformation through Sustainability of Natural Capital: The Path for Africa

Abstract

Carbon emission and green growth are not just coterminous but axiomatic necessity which is closely inter-related with our biospheric limits. Carbon-based growth for low income countries will ensure the transition to middle-income economy but presently such growth is based on resource depletion. For Africa, natural capital is the large bowl for the transition to middle-income country. However, growth based on exhaustion of natural capital is not ecologically neutral. Our results suggest that  biomass holds great potential for improving the economic wellbeing of Africa in the post-Paris era. Despite its beneficial attribute, biomass extraction forebodes grave danger for the bio-geophysical properties of the planet capable of magnifying existing inequalities within and between societies. Africa has acceded to non-binding cuts in greenhouse emission. But with business as usual attitude, unsustainable extraction and consumption will continue into the future, thereby reinforcing climate-related extreme events. Though green transformation is fast catching on, it is not economic ’Uhuru’ as the journey to ecological disequilibrium has begun in earnest, which is threatening to undermine the narrow gains of eco-efficiency. Therefore, it is sunset at dawn for the poor, a paradox of sustaining man’s wellbeing on the heels of its consequential impacts. We conclude by advocating a policy mix of materialization and dematerialization as a solution to Africa’s agro-ecological deteriorations. To this end, the paper comprises five sections. The introduction is section one. Conceptual issues form the second section while the driver of biomass economy is the third section. The fourth section is on the path forward with the conclusion as the last section.