For clean energy, financial growth, Africa looks to UN talks

By WANJOHI KABUKURU
Associated Press

MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) — Access to more and cleaner energy while continuing to grow economically will be a top priority for African nations in the upcoming United Nations climate conference in November, top officials and climate experts on the continent said. As part of the Africa’s goal for what’s called a “just transition” — ensuring that the buildout of clean energy is fair and inclusive — the African Union wants to boost access to electricity and clean cooking resources to hundreds of millions of people. It’s estimated that 600 million people out of 1.4 billion living on the continent don’t have electricity, with 900 million lacking access to cleaner cooking fuels.