Nigeria’s presidential villa is being kitted out with a $6-million solar mini-grid – a pricey solution to erratic power supplies that small business manager Victor Onyim can only dream of as he grapples with near-daily power cuts.
For more than two weeks until early May, Onyim’s drinking water company and other businesses in the southern city of Port Harcourt struggled to keep operating due to a total blackout blamed by the local power utility on vandalism. It has since been resolved, but regular outages continue.
“The lack of light (electricity) is affecting our business. We have not been making sales since the power issue,” he told Climate Home, gesturing towards the half-empty stock room and idle delivery trucks parked at the front of the plant in the country’s oil-rich Niger Delta region.
To keep the business afloat during the recent outage, Onyim spent 30,000 naira ($18) daily on diesel and was forced to halt production at midday to reduce the fuel bill, sending workers home early.
“Substituting the light from the grid with generators … is better than not having light at all,” he said.
Generators far cheaper than solar
The whirr of generators is a common sound in Nigeria, where the national power grid is prone to frequent failures, plagued by creaky and poorly maintained infrastructure despite repeated pledges by governments over the years to tackle it.
While those who can afford it are starting to install solar panels and storage batteries to bypass grid supplies, poorer Nigerians have no option but to stretch household budgets to buy fuel – to supply generators – kerosene lamps and candles for lighting and bottled gas for cooking.
Petrol and diesel generators remain the favoured alternative for power generation. While the fuel is an extra running cost, a small petrol generator can be bought for as little as 120,000 naira ($74).
It costs roughly five times more than that – 600,000 naira ($323) – to buy just one solar panel with an inverter battery. The minimum monthly wage in Nigeria is 70,000 naira ($45).
Leapfrogging straight to renewables
In much of Africa, where an estimated 600 million people still have no access at all to mains electricity, leapfrogging straight to solar power would boost power access while also reducing the need for fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil and coal to generate electricity.
Nigeria’s power sector is heavily reliant on fossil fuels, with gas accounting for over three-quarters of electricity generated in 2022, hydropower delivering about a quarter, and renewables less than 1%.
But high solar system installation costs are a huge hurdle, particularly in the poorer rural areas that would stand to gain the most – access to electricity, in many cases for the first time.
Almost half of Nigeria’s roughly 230 million people live without access to electricity from the grid – making it the country with the highest number of people lacking it globally.
Even for those who are connected to the grid, dilapidated transmission infrastructure, vandalism and inadequate maintenance resources mean the supply is unreliable, raising the appeal of self-contained solar systems – even for the country’s leader.
In Nigeria, Zimbabwe and South Africa, solar booms have been driven by power cuts prompting those who can afford to invest in reliable solar electricity. However, this is usually a fraction of the majority. The 2025 Africa Solar Outlook report found that commercial and industrial users made up a large part of the installations in 2024.
Renewables for the rich?
With few signs of improvement in Nigeria’s power supply, civil society campaigners have criticised the government’s approval of the multi-million-dollar solar system at the sprawling Aso Rock presidential residence in the capital, Abuja.
A spokesperson for President Bola Tinubu said the initial investment would soon be clawed back through savings on electricity bills.
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But solar for the rich, and government officials, is not the equitable shift to greener electricity that Africa’s policymakers should be working to implement, said Joshua Alade, founder of Network of Youth for Sustainable Initiative, a youth-led civil society organisation based in Nigeria.
“This current trend of renewables being accessible mainly to the affluent is far from what we advocate for,” Alade said, adding that government efforts to foster renewable energy must focus on vulnerable communities “historically left behind by traditional energy systems”.
Nigeria’s power crisis perpetuates deep economic inequalities in Africa’s most populous country, with smaller businesses and micro enterprises like Onyim’s in Port Harcourt less able to cope with the blackouts.
According to estimates by the World Bank, unreliable electricity supplies cost the Nigerian economy $29 billion a year.
Clean energy investments are growing – slowly
Investments in renewable energy in Africa are growing, but too slowly to put the continent on track to reach its sustainable development goals, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Clean energy investments in Africa account for just 2% of the global total, the IEA said in its latest World Energy Investment Analysis report, adding that as they stand, energy investments are equivalent to only 1.2% of the region’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Efforts to tackle Africa’s power access gap, and boosting renewable energy generation at the same time, are the focus of initiatives such as Mission300, a joint effort of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank.
The programme, which aims to get power supplies to 300 million people – half of the number without electricity access in Africa – by 2030, raised over $50 billion in pledges of support earlier this year at a meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Ensuring green power shift benefits all
For the initiative to succeed where others have failed, Nigeria-based energy expert Teslim Giwa said African governments must place greater emphasis on the economic benefits of improving – and widening access to – electricity.
In order to ensure lower-income communities are reached, he called for policies including subsidies on products such as solar panels and batteries for storage and discounted electricity bills for the poorest people.
Community ownership of clean electricity initiatives – for example, solar mini-grids in neighbourhoods – should also be promoted, Giwa said, adding that the approach would help prevent vandalism and stop infrastructure falling into disrepair.
Back in Port Harcourt’s Rumuokwachi district, not far from Onyim’s water packaging plant, welder Bright Azuka hunches over a steel gate, sparks flying as his welding machine crackles to life.
The hum of a generator can be heard in the background as he works swiftly, racing to finish a job before it runs out of fuel. Azuka spends 10,000 naira ($7) per day on petrol so he can carry on working during power outages.
He urged President Tinubu’s government to find ways of making solar systems more affordable for ordinary Nigerians like him.
“Even though I don’t have electricity here, I am paying monthly bills,” he said. “It’s not easy.”
The post Nigerian president’s solar panels stir debate over renewables for the rich appeared first on Climate Home News.
Nigerian president’s solar panels stir debate over renewables for the rich
Climate Change
DeBriefed 19 June 2026: Bonn talks end in ‘gridlock’ | Energy’s ‘new era’ | Oceans in climate negotiations
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.
This week
Bonn talks close
‘SIDE-STEPPING AND STALLING’: UN climate talks in Bonn have ended in “gridlock”, according to Climate Home News. The outlet reported on the failure to balance developing countries’ need for climate-adaptation finance with “richer nations’ desire to move forward” on emissions cuts. It added that both topics were subject to “rule 16”, meaning no agreement could be reached and work will be pushed to the COP31 summit in Turkey. Inside Climate News quoted UN climate executive secretary Simon Stiell, who said the talks had seen “side-stepping and stalling”.
JUST TRANSITION: One “glimmer of hope” came from negotiations on achieving a “just transition”, reported Euronews. The news outlet said negotiators “made headway on operationalising the Belém-Antalya mechanism”, intended to support people in the shift to a low-carbon economy. However, Politico concluded that much of the focus in Bonn had “shift[ed] to efforts outside diplomatic talks – raising questions about the future of global climate negotiations”.
‘ATTACKING SCIENCE’: Agence France-Presse reported on the EU, Switzerland and “dozens of developing nations” warning of “attacks on science” by a “small group of fossil-fuels interests” in Bonn. Table Briefings explained that “the 1.5C target is increasingly being challenged” and the role of the UN climate-science panel – the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – in an upcoming assessment of global climate progress “remains controversial”. See Carbon Brief’s full write-up of the talks for more detail.
US-Iran deal
PRICE DROP: The US and Iran announced that they have reached an interim agreement to halt the war and reopen the strait of Hormuz, reported Bloomberg. Oil prices have fallen, as the “long-awaited deal” began the process of “eas[ing]” the global energy crisis triggered by the conflict, according to the New York Times. The Associated Press noted that high fuel prices will “likely outlast the Iran war”.
‘OIL GLUT’: The Financial Times reported that the International Energy Agency (IEA) has forecast a “glut of oil” emerging next year, if the peace deal holds. The IEA said this would allow countries to build new strategic reserves, as they “review their energy strategies and policies in response to the crisis”, according to Reuters.
‘NEW ERA’: Agence France-Presse reported that oil and gas companies have “few illusions about a return to normal for the Gulf energy industry after more than three months of blockage”. One analyst told the newswire that the war “showed the oil and gas industry that Hormuz risk is no longer just a geopolitical headline”.
Around the world
- OCEAN MONITOR: The Trump administration is “abandoning its plan” to dismantle a $368m ocean monitoring system key for tracking climate change after a “bipartisan backlash on Capitol Hill”, reported the New York Times.
- CORAL HAVEN: The New York Times covered preliminary research, presented at the Our Ocean Conference in Kenya, suggesting there could be three times as many “coral refugia” – where corals are relatively safe from climate change – than previously thought.
- BAD CREDIT: Down to Earth reported that the first carbon credits issued under the Paris Agreement’s new Article 6.4 mechanism are “facing scrutiny over alleged links to institutions controlled by Myanmar’s military junta”.
- OIL BACKTRACK: Reuters reported that oil-and-gas company Equinor has dropped a renewable-energy target and scaled back clean investments, while another Reuters story noted that Shell is selling off its offshore wind assets.
1.1 billion
The number of children facing “at least three overlapping climate hazards”, according to a new Unicef report covered by Agence France-Presse.
Latest climate research
- Including the “permafrost carbon-climate feedback” in climate models increases the chance of exceeding “tipping elements” – such as the Greenland ice sheets, Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation or Amazon rainforest – by up to 50% | Environmental Research Letters
- The intensity of influenza outbreaks could decline in temperate regions, but increase in tropical areas over the next century, as the climate warms | PNAS Nexus
- European snow cover has declined by 20% for December and January since the start of the industrial era, revealing an “unprecedented ongoing shrinkage of European winters” | Communications Earth & Environment
(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)
Captured
The more than 2m battery electric vehicles (BEVs), 1m “plug-in” hybrids (PHEVs) and 100,000 electric vans on UK roads are already saving drivers a total of around £3bn a year, according to new Carbon Brief analysis. This amounts to savings of more than £1,100 a year in fuel costs for each BEV driver in the UK. The analysis comes amid reports in UK media this week that the government is considering “watering down” its EV sales targets.
Spotlight
Oceans rising at UN climate talks
The state of the world’s oceans is inextricably linked to the changing climate – and many delegates at UN climate talks want to see more focus on this issue, reports Carbon Brief.
Oceans are often described as the world’s “greatest ally” against climate change – absorbing 30% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and most of the heat generated by those emissions.
They are also the site of important climate solutions, such as huge offshore windfarms and the shipping industry’s transition to cleaner fuels.
At the same time, the oceans themselves present a growing danger to coastal communities and sea life due to sea level rise, marine heatwaves and ocean acidification.
These diverse issues have led to growing calls within the UN climate process for more focus on oceans. During climate negotiations this week in Bonn – known as SB64 – nations and civil society had a chance to air these views during an “ocean and climate change dialogue”.
‘Elevate action’
Oceans first entered UN climate outcomes in 2019, when the final COP25 negotiated text requested a new “dialogue” on “the ocean and climate change to consider how to strengthen mitigation and adaptation action”.
The following years saw this dialogue established as an annual event. However, the political weight of these discussions has been limited.
COP31 is being co-led by Turkey and Australia, but with Pacific islands playing a supporting role. These small islands sometimes self-identify as “large ocean states”, stressing the ocean’s centrality in their societies.
In Bonn, figures from across the presidency threw their weight behind this issue. Chris Bowen, an Australian minister and incoming COP31 “president of negotiations”, told attendees:
“Australia, Turkey and the Pacific see an important opportunity to elevate ocean-based climate action.”
Strategies and finance
The two-day dialogue in Bonn involved a series of panels, statements and breakout groups.
One of the main topics was how oceans are integrated into national climate plans under the Paris Agreement, known as “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs).
Three-quarters of the latest round of NDCs mention oceans, with conservation of “blue carbon” ecosystems the most frequently described action. (Landscapes such as mangroves can both absorb CO2 and protect coastal areas.)
Delegates also discussed alignment with the UN biodiversity process, as well as ocean finance, which currently makes up less than 1% of all climate finance.
(As discussions were taking place in Bonn, country officials also gathered in Mombasa, Kenya for the 11th Our Ocean Conference. Carbon Brief’s associate editor Giuliana Viglione attended the conference and will publish a full summary shortly.)
Developing countries were clear that many of the ocean-related actions in their NDCs would depend on receiving more financial support.
‘Political momentum’
With the backing of the COP31 presidency, delegates were hopeful about where this year’s dialogue could lead.
Charles Hamilton, an advisor for the Bahamas who spoke for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) in the dialogue, told Carbon Brief that island representatives “are not traveling thousands of miles to just talk and pat ourselves on the back”. He added:
“A dialogue that just remains a dialogue is just more talk – no action.”
Given that, he said “discussions in the dialogue must move into COP decisions and the decisions must be actioned”, noting the importance of finance.
Marina Corrêa, oceans lead at WWF-Brazil, pointed to an upcoming UN climate change Standing Committee on Finance forum as a space to ramp up pressure on ocean finance.
More broadly, she wanted to see the presidencies translate their support into a “leader-level ocean initiative” that could “mainstream” oceans across negotiations.
“We have a really interesting opportunity, in terms of political momentum,” Corrêa told Carbon Brief.
Watch, read, listen
‘HOTTER THAN HELL’: An episode of the BBC’s Rare Earth podcast titled “hotter than hell” considered the issue of extreme heat, with input from experts and “people facing up to the hottest temperatures on the planet”.
NOT BROKEN?: John Drake, a professor of ecology at the University of Georgia, wrote an essay for Aeon – also re-published as a Guardian “long read” – questioning the framing of ecosystems and climate systems “breaking down”.
ON COURSE: On his Volts podcast, US climate journalist David Roberts interviewed UK climate minister Katie White, quizzing her about whether the UK will “stay the course with its climate plans”.
Coming up
- 20-28 June: London climate action week
- 21 June: Colombia presidential runoff
- 24 June: UK Climate Change Committee progress in reducing emissions 2026 report to parliament
Pick of the jobs
- Mongabay, managing editor – Africa | Salary: Unknown. Location: Global
- Contexte, environment reporter – Brussels | Salary: €45,000-€60,000. Location: Brussels
- Climate 200, communications director | Salary: Unknown. Location: Australia
- Energy Tracker Asia, energy transition correspondent | Salary: $3,000-$4,000 per month. Location: South-east Asia (remote)
DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to debriefed@carbonbrief.org.
This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s weekly DeBriefed email newsletter. Subscribe for free here.
The post DeBriefed 19 June 2026: Bonn talks end in ‘gridlock’ | Energy’s ‘new era’ | Oceans in climate negotiations appeared first on Carbon Brief.
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