The carbon economy claims four more lives in Nairobi. On Tuesday, Kenyan police fired live rounds into a crowd protesting rising fuel prices, a direct consequence of global market volatility and decades of underinvestment in renewable infrastructure. The deaths are not a tragedy; they are a predictable outcome of a system that externalises costs onto the most vulnerable.
For context, Kenya's inflation rate for transport fuels hit 18% year-on-year. This is not an anomaly. The nation's energy mix relies on 70% fossil fuels, mostly imported. When global crude prices spike, the entire economy convulses. The protests are a symptom of a deeper malaise: a lack of energy sovereignty.
The British energy firms now urged to accelerate investment face a choice. They can continue the extractive model that has historically stripped value from African nations, or they can pivot to genuine partnership. The opportunity is vast. East Africa has some of the world's best solar irradiance and geothermal potential. Kenya's Rift Valley alone could generate 10,000 megawatts of clean electricity, enough to power not just the nation but also provide a sustainable export commodity.
The physics of energy density means that renewables require capital-intensive upfront investment. But the long-term operational costs are negligible. For British firms, the calculus is shifting. The Inflation Reduction Act in the US is funneling billions into renewables, but Africa remains a frontier. The risk of political instability is high, but the risk of doing nothing is higher. Climate change does not respect borders.
What happened in Nairobi is a microcosm of a global problem. We are seeing biosphere collapse in real time: extreme weather events, crop failures, and now civil unrest over energy access. The human cost is not measured in barrels of oil but in bodies on the street.
The technology exists. Solar photovoltaic efficiency has doubled in the last decade. Battery storage costs have fallen 90% since 2010. What is lacking is political will and capital deployment. British energy firms have the expertise. They have the balance sheets. What they need is the courage to abandon the old model of resource plunder and embrace a new one of energy transformation.
The four dead in Nairobi are not an argument for the status quo. They are a call to action. The transition to clean energy is not a noble goal; it is a survival necessity. Every day of delay amplifies the cost in lives and treasure. We have the solutions. We need the execution.
