NAIROBI, March 30 (Xinhua) -- More than 90 percent of African business leaders support a well-designed global carbon taxation regime as a means to boost green growth and shield communities from negative impacts of climate change, said a survey launched in Nairobi Tuesday.
According to the survey dubbed "Zeronomics" that was carried out by Standard Chartered Bank from September to October 2020, there is a strong support for a carbon tax and strong regulations to spur green growth in the continent.
"Ninety percent of senior executives believe effective global carbon tax would be an important factor in accelerating their net-zero transition," said the survey.
The survey on business leaders' attitudes towards low carbon development was carried out in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia and South Africa.
It said that 78 percent of African executives believe that financing, regulatory and governance bottlenecks had derailed action on carbon emissions hence exposing the continent to adverse impacts of climate change.
According to the Zeronomics survey, 55 percent of African business leaders worry that their firms were not transitioning fast enough towards carbon neutrality. And 35 percent of executives pledged support to the Paris agreement while 68 percent said that sustained investments were required to hasten green and inclusive growth in the continent.
Also, the survey said that many companies based in Africa are delaying transition to carbon free growth citing inadequate access to clean technologies and cumbersome regulations. And 32 percent of business leaders in the continent as opposed to 34 percent globally felt their companies will hasten progress towards carbon neutrality between 2030 to 2040.
The survey said that 78 percent of African executives compared to 59 percent of their global counterparts stressed the need for extensive organizational change to pave way for low carbon transition.
"Our survey reveals that there is significant opportunity in Africa to pave the way for zero-net carbon emissions," said Sarmad Lone, a senior executive at Standard Chartered Bank.
He said that a consensus among governments, industry and local communities was required to accelerate low carbon development in Africa during the pandemic era. Enditem
