João Lourenço, who was responding to a question asked by a young woman from Botswana about Angola's contributions to the issue of climate change, said that countries considered to be the most polluting and the least polluting need to come together to tackle this problem.
The question was asked in the Panel "Young People, Actors in Promoting the Culture of Peace and Social Transformations on the Continent - High Level Dialogue", within the scope of the 3rd edition of the Pan-African Forum for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence – Luanda Biennial, which runs until Friday, with the presence of the Presidents of Cape Verde, José Maria Neves, of São Tomé and Príncipe, Carlos Vila Nova, of Ethiopia, Sale-Work Zewed, and heads of Governments and representatives of others African countries.
According to João Lourenço, the situation has reached a point where "it is no longer interesting to point the finger, blaming those who pollute more those who pollute less".
"Africa, due to its low industrial development, is the one that pollutes the least, but it is not worth looking for the culprits. We are all to blame, we all have to work together, those who pollute the most and those who pollute the least to see if it is still possible to save the planet", he said.
The head of state highlighted that Angola is committed to this fight, participates in all conferences on the subject, and has contributed to the trend of using less and less diesel in thermal power plants to produce electricity.
"The country has made a large investment over the years in the construction of hydroelectric plants, we currently have three large hydroelectric dams", he stressed, adding that the energy from them is already helping to increasingly reduce the use of thermal power plants of energy production.
João Lourenço said that at the COP 28 summit, which begins on the 30th of this month, in Dubai, Angola will sign the United Nations (UN) initiative on the need to decarbonize oil and gas, and join other institutions international organizations, for their oil and gas industry, in the near future, to be able to measure and reduce polluting emissions.
The President said that a green hydrogen exploration project should begin in 2024, in the town of Barra do Dande, Bengo province, to be developed by the oil company Sonangol, the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas and a company from Germany.
