{"id":49568,"date":"2023-11-27T10:21:18","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T10:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=49568"},"modified":"2023-11-29T10:22:42","modified_gmt":"2023-11-29T10:22:42","slug":"leaks-reveal-how-mckinsey-drives-african-climate-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2023\/11\/27\/leaks-reveal-how-mckinsey-drives-african-climate-agenda\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaks reveal how McKinsey drives African climate agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"

Weeks before African leaders travelled to Nairobi for the continent\u2019s first climate summit in September, climate justice groups <\/span><\/b>wrote<\/span><\/b><\/a> to Kenyan president William Ruto accusing consultancy firm McKinsey of \u201cundue influence\u201d on the summit\u2019s agenda. <\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The American firm had offered Ruto support in running the summit during a meeting with him and US ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman in late May, several sources told Climate Home News.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A few days later, in early June, McKinsey wrote the concept note, which set the summit\u2019s structure, and later drafted a paper to frame its outcome.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor a few weeks, it was their way or the highway,\u201d a source close to the summit\u2019s organisation told Climate Home.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the time, the Kenyan government <\/span>said<\/span><\/a> civil society accusations that Mckinsey had captured the summit were \u201cextremely far from the truth\u201d. McKinsey said the claims were \u201cinaccurate\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But <\/span>the backlash<\/span><\/a> publicly exposed the influence McKinsey wields on Africa\u2019s climate agenda \u2013 a position it would prefer to keep discreet.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leaked documents<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Now, Climate Home has obtained leaked documents and interviewed multiple sources, who have asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the issue.<\/span><\/p>\n

They show how McKinsey dominates an ecosystem pushing carbon markets in Africa and processes designed to help governments develop long-term energy plans. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This has been facilitated by McKinsey\u2019s deep-rooted ties with Sustainable Energy For All (SEforAll), which is responsible for delivering on a 2030 sustainable development goal for everyone to have access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy; and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), which works to accelerate the energy transition. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In numbers:<\/strong> The state of the climate ahead of Cop28<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Climate Home\u2019s investigation reveals that SEforAll staff complained of CEO Damilola Ogunbiyi\u2019s \u201cpreferential treatment\u201d of McKinsey in a whistleblower report in 2020. <\/span><\/p>\n

That year, SEforAll brought in the firm to facilitate a leadership retreat and develop the organisation\u2019s business plan. At the time, SEforAll\u2019s top management dismissed the allegation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Three years on, documents show how McKinsey has turned initial pro-bono work into lucrative contracts.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A source close to SEforAll told Climate Home that McKinsey encountered hardly any competition and enjoyed \u201calmost unrestricted access to the highest levels of the UN and national governments\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An SEforAll spokesperson said: \u201cAll SEforALL processes are followed at all times in the selection and engagement of any advisory services,\u201d adding that any idea to the contrary was \u201cbaseless\u201d. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Come to take over”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

African government insiders say McKinsey\u2019s domination is problematic because it is pushing a top-down tunnel vision and non-Afro-centric view of how to address the continent\u2019s climate and development challenges, which, if unquestioned, could constrain its ambition.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe role of McKinsey is highly problematic because they don\u2019t come in a capacity support role, they come to take over,\u201d said one source.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a role for consultants to help governments and international organisations plug skill and knowledge gaps.<\/span><\/p>\n

In numbers:<\/strong> The state of the climate ahead of Cop28<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But consultancies should advise \u201cfrom the sidelines in a transparent way\u2026 rather than be allowed to run the show from the centre,\u201d economist Mariana Mazzucato and researcher Rosie Collington write in their book about the consulting industry The Big Con.<\/span><\/p>\n

Michael Marchant is head of investigations at Open Secrets, an NGO which advocates for private sector accountability and <\/span>investigated McKinsey\u2019s work in South Africa.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He told Climate Home that despite receiving large amounts of public money, large consultancy firms like McKinsey \u201coperate in secrecy and with almost no public accountability\u201d.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Heart of climate governance<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Yet, allowed in by governments, McKinsey has found a place at the heart of critical climate governance processes. France24 recently <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> that McKinsey is pushing fossil fuel interests in its advisor role to the UAE, which will preside over the Cop28 climate talks in Dubai starting this week.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The company\u2019s client list includes some of the world\u2019s biggest fossil fuel companies, including Saudi Aramco, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell, according to <\/span>court filings<\/span><\/a> in the US, where McKinsey is being sued <\/span>alongside Big Oil<\/span><\/a>. McKinsey rejects the accusations.<\/span><\/p>\n

In more recent years, McKinsey has advised polluters, including oil and gas companies, on how to use the carbon market to offset their emissions or raise revenue. A 2022 internal McKinsey document, seen by Climate Home, names Chevron and BP among clients of its carbon market business line.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meet the Italian fugitive<\/strong> advising Emirati start-up Blue Carbon<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In Africa, the consultancy is behind a push to significantly grow the continent\u2019s carbon offset offering, working closely with both GEAPP and SEforAll.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2021, McKinsey supported the Rockefeller Foundation to design and establish GEAPP, according to a McKinsey document seen by Climate Home. The following year, GEAPP asked SEforAll to hire McKinsey to develop the <\/span>African Carbon Market Initiative<\/span><\/a> for $1.5 million as part of its grant to the organisation, Climate Home understands. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Launched at Cop27 in Egypt, the initiative aims to scale carbon markets on the continent 19-fold by 2030.<\/span><\/p>\n

While GEAPP and SEforAll publicly sponsored the initiative, McKinsey described its role in <\/span>a sustainability report<\/span><\/a> as \u201cshaping and refining the initiative\u2019s ambition\u201d and \u201cdeveloping its strategy\u201d. McKinsey\u2019s concept note for the Africa Climate Summit elevated carbon markets to a core theme.<\/span><\/p>\n

President Ruto <\/span>appointed<\/span><\/a> Joseph Ng\u2019ang\u2019a, GEAPP\u2019s vice president of Africa, CEO of the summit.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

President William Ruto has appointed Mr Joseph Ng\u2019ang\u2019a, Vice President of Africa at the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP, as Chief Executive Officer of the inaugural Africa Climate Summit, which will take place in Nairobi from 4- 6 September 2023.\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/eKtjGri5s8<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Kenyan Wallstreet (@kenyanwalstreet) June 12, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n