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Tomorrow, the Geo-East African Conference and Expo (GEOEACE 2024) opens in Nairobi. The conference will highlight the significance of natural resources and the role of geologists in sustainable economic development.

Organized by the Geological Society of Kenya (GSK), which is marking its 50th anniversary and the Geological Registration Board, the geosciences conference will be attended by high-level speakers, experts and policymakers.

The conference theme – Beyond 2030: East Africa’s Geo-Resources Portfolio for Economic Development and Energy Transition – resonates with a defining issue of our time: climate change.

Geologists have recorded abundant evidence of how the Earth’s climate has changed in the past.

The evidence is highly relevant to understanding how it is changing now and how it may change in the future. The shift to a low/neutral carbon economy is essential to tackle climate change.

The most glaring impact of climate change is global warming. Geologists’ evidence shows how carbon emissions from human activities are causing climate change and how greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are altering the Earth’s climate.

These changes directly affect our environment and the health and well-being of humans.

Stronger measures are needed to keep alive the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C.
Anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change needs to be slowed, stopped and ideally reversed by meeting or exceeding the targets for emissions reductions set out in the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Convention on Climate Change.

Meeting these targets will require a fundamental shift in how we produce and consume energy.
Geologists have a vital role to play in supporting this shift.

Geosciences and the energy transition are vital in the context of the climate crisis, and intergovernmental policies on climate and social justice.

The transition from hydrocarbons to renewable energy will require more mining for critical elements and resources such as lithium and cobalt. Earth scientists are critically needed to develop the infrastructure to support renewable energy technology and deliver low-carbon energy solutions.

Geology plays a pivotal role in the sourcing of raw materials, the development of circular economies, in subsurface storage and capture solutions, and geothermal energy production.

It is, therefore, reassuring that the conference organizers have condensed this role in sustainable economic development and their unique position to support policymakers, stakeholders and industry in the energy transition.

Natural resources and geologists are valuable assets that contribute to human life and well-being, influencing industries, infrastructure and environmental stewardship. Geologists provide a foundation for informed decision-making and responsible resource management in the energy transition.

GEOEACE 2024 is taking place within the context of the East African Community whose latest member, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is rich in natural resources – timber, oil, gas, gold, diamonds, as well as copper and 70 per cent of the world’s cobalt – which are critical to the energy transition.

DRC and Africa, despite being one of the world’s most biodiverse and natural resource-rich regions, also face many development challenges shaped by the extraction of natural resources, which has historically not benefited local communities. It is thus both a blessing and a curse.

This and other governance challenges have led to insecurity, violence and widespread poverty.

Geologists should address how to strengthen transparency, oversight and inclusive natural resource governance in the continent.

That requires providing citizens access to information about their natural resource revenues. Transparency is the first line of defence against corruption and mismanagement in the natural resource sector.

—The writer comments on science and environmental issues – [email protected]