November 25, 2021
Albert Baron Ansu
The Environment Minister Professor Foday Moriba Jaward has reassured that government has secured the money to support the process of shift to electrical mobility. He was speaking at a stakeholder’s project launching event of shift to mobility convened at the civil service training center, State Avenue in Freetown.
The Environment Minister stated that addressing the negative impacts of air pollution, climate change and reducing fossil fuel dependency of the transport sector in Sierra Leone is the thrust of the e-mobility project. He pointed out that there is no secret about the fact that these issues are touching and endangering efforts as a country to protect the environment, bio diversity and a healthy citizenry.
He said a global transition to low and zero emission mobility commitments including the Paris Climate Agreement is essential.
Professor Jaward stated that the 2019 CO2 Emission from Fuel Combustion report indicates that the transport sector is responsible for approximately 25% of energy related carbon dioxide emission, adding that it is expected to grow by 33% in 2050 faster than any other sector.
The environment minister used the occasion to disclose that the global vehicle fleet is expected to double by 2050 and most of such growth is set to place in low and middle income countries. This projection is contained in the International Energy Agency Mobility Model of 2017, the minister stated.
He said the government is conscious of the fact that over-reliance on imported fossil fuel poses several challenges to the bid to transition to low emissions pathway that would reduce greenhouse gas emission and air pollution.
“In our National Determined Contribution submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, (UNFCCC), Sierra Leone aims to maintain its emission levels below 7.58 MtCO-e by 2035 and to be carbon neutral by 2050.”
The Minister concluded with the passionate appeal that all stakeholders should participate meaning fully in the inception workshop.
Earlier, the Chairman of the occasion Assistant Director of Chemicals and Control Management of EPA Tamba Emmanuel Nyaka said that climate change is nolonger a novelty but a reality, referencing various effects of greenhouse gas emission and that e-mobility have the tendency to reduce pollution, create job opportunities with the introduction of new technologies and dependence on fossil fuel dependency.
He said Sierra Leone has pledged to mitigate greenhouse and all stakeholders must be supportive of the process.
Making a statement on behalf of the Ministry of Transport and Aviation Beran Foster said it is an undeniable fact that climate change is having an impact globally, with increasing frequency of extreme weather events and nationally with changing seasons and increased frequencies of weather related natural disasters.
He restated the point that the transport sector globally accounts for the incidence of greenhouse gas emission.
He disclosed that Sierra Leone submitted INDC in 2016 identifies improvement and promotion of the use of public transportation, road, rail and water for passengers and cargo to reduce traffic congestions and greenhouse gas emissions as one of its strategies for climate change mitigation.
Beran Foster said it is in this regard that the Ministry of Transport and Aviation implementing the integrated and resilience urban mobility project to pilot modern public transportation on 60 km corridor linking the east and west extremes of Freetown with the central business district . He said the project climate change mitigation impact is estimated at 99,000 CO2eq saved over a twenty five year period, a model that the ministry of transport intends on duplicating on other routes in Freetown and across the nation. He described the initiation as stop gap measure, laudable as it may be. He added that a lot of countries have pledged to phase out the internal combustion engine for public and private transport within the next twenty years.
There were virtual supportive comments from international partners working on this project with the EPA.