Minister of Petroleum Puot Kang Chol speaks at the 6th South Sudan Oil & Power Conference in Juba. Thursday, June 15, 2023. | Photo: Lou Nelson/Eye Radio

The Minister of Petroleum is appealing to the developed countries to allow South Sudan to exploit its fossil resources and use them to transition to renewable energy.

Puot Kang Chol made the remarks while speaking to Sky News on the sideline of the South Sudan Economic Forum organized by the South Sudan Embassy to the United Kingdom.

Kang said his country is not opposed to the global renewable energy transition.

But he emphasized that the oil resource is the only steppingstone for South Sudan to develop its renewable energy sectors.

“Our focus is so much on developing what we have at hand. And what we have at hand is the fossil fuel,” he said.

“We are cognizant of the fact that the world is transiting from fossil fuel to clean and green energy, and we are not opposed to that.”

“We are for it, but we are saying there is a need for us to develop fossil fuel because that is the only thing that we have now, so it allows us to develop other sources of energy like power sources.”

“We use it as a catalyst to develop other sectors, and that is the only steppingstone that we have at the moment, and that’s why we are here to say to those of you who are outside there, come help us develop these resources together so that we move together when the world is transiting.”

Climate change is currently the number one global crisis, with record temperatures, wildfires, floods, and draught experienced across the world.

Scientists say 2023 is set to be the hottest year on record amid global heatwaves across the northern hemisphere.

South Sudan produces the least amount of crude oil compared to the OPEC nations and contributes only 0.13 percent of the global carbon emission.

However, the country has the third largest oil reserve in Sub-Saharan Africa, and with oil revenue contributing over 90 percent of the economy, it plans to increase production.