Publications /
Policy Brief

Back
Download PDF
Moving Europe and Africa towards more common ground on climate and energy
Authors
Alfonso Medinilla
Larabi Jaïdi
Afaf Zarkik
September 5, 2023
Related topics: 
Commodities & Energy
Climate change and biodiversity
Economy
Europe
Africa

This paper was originally published on ecdpm.org

 

COP27 reached a breakthrough agreement on a new loss and damage fund for vulnerable countries and opened the door for a review of the international financial architecture. Ahead of COP28 at the end of 2023, the AU-EU partnership can help drive global climate change and energy transition agendas forward. A fruitful collaboration between the two continents starts with the following:

• Africa and Europe must find common ground to maximise the benefits and minimise the costs of combating climate change and the green transition. Both must move from dogmatic positions on renewable energy and fossil fuels to focus on green transition business opportunities.

• Both continents must acknowledge, address and alleviate tensions between Europe and Africa over decarbonisation. Failure to do so will slow the progress of promoting a just energy transition in Africa.

• African and European representatives should avoid the trap of ‘policy signalling’ or ideal-type solutions but focus on delivering rapid results on climate finance, energy and industrialisation, as well as communicating more effectively on their progress.

RELATED CONTENT

  • Download PDF
    The Climate Change-Security Nexus: Case study of the Lake Chad Basin
    Authors
    Maha Skah
    Rida Lyammouri
    June 26, 2020
    The securitization of climate change has important implications in terms of how the issue is framed and addressed, at national and international policy levels. It has become clear that climate change poses multiple and overlapping security challenges, including in terms of livelihood insecurity, disruption to agriculture and energy infrastructure, can fuel social tensions, conflict, and displacement. But consensus is growing around a more moderate view that climate change is exacerb ...
  • Covid-19 and the Implementation of The SDGs in Africa
    Authors
    Kwamboka Kiangoi
    May 22, 2020
    For Africa, this new decade began full of promise to achieve the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals and on its way to realising the goals and priorities of Agenda 2063. With the entry of the intra-African trade from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement, which comes into effect on July 1st 2020, an estimated combined gross domestic product (GDP) of more than US$3.4 trillion expected to trickle in the Continent. This revenue estimation is good ne ...
  • Download PDF
    Revisiting international climate negotiations from an African perspective
    Authors
    Maha Skah
    March 2, 2020
    2020 is an important year for the international climate agenda despite a general loss of momentum and resurgence of the divide between traditional polluters, emerging polluters, and the most vulnerable countries. While African countries only contribute to 4% of global GHG emissions, their capacity to adapt to climate change’s devastating impact on societies, livelihoods, economies, and ecosystems is limited. This paper provides a synthesis of the existing literature and recent devel ...
  • Oasis Agrytech Hackathon (OAH) - Touria Benlafqih, Morocco (ADEL 2017)
    February 21, 2020
    To strengthen the role of youth as agents of community development, the Policy Center for the New South launched a year ago a call for projects grounded in new and innovative approaches to existing local problems. The Oasis Agrytech Hackathon project is aiming to preserve the Draa Tafil...
  • Download PDF
    Should we be concerned for our environment, ecology and biodiversity?
    Authors
    Hynd Bouhia
    February 18, 2020
    The future of our environment, ecology and biodiversity raises a number of questions. Vigilance is critical to preseving both Morocco and the planet for future generations. This Paper highlights the importance of ongoing government, private sector and civil society initiatives to ensure adaptation to, and mitigation of, climate change. Morocco is at the forefront of this momentum, as illustrated by the organization of the COP22 in Marrakech in 2016, the implementation of a National ...
  • Download PDF
    From Asian Green Revolution 1.0 to Sustainable Green Revolution 2.0
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    Tharcisse Guedegbe
    September 27, 2019
    This paper is about the basic principles which should guide fertilizer policy for smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa It is not about detailed country-specific prescriptions on the “how” of policy. This important task should constitute the substance of detailed country studies. The overarching goal here is to use fertilizer to spearhead and sustain an African Green Revolution (GR). In this paper, fertilizer use is not considered as an end in itself, but as a necessary mean ...
  • Le modèle marocain de l’énergie solaire pourrait profiter à d’autres pays africains
    Authors
    Helmut Sorge
    Rim Berahab
    September 26, 2019
    Interviewée par Helmut Sorge, chroniqueur au PCNS, Rim Berahab, économiste spécialiste de l’énergie décortique dans son papier, les liens existant entre les énergies renouvelables en Afrique et les opportunités de croissance économique. “ Le modèle marocain de l’énergie solaire pourrait profiter à d’autres pays africains” Dans votre Policy Paper intitulé « Energies renouvelables en Afrique : Enjeux, défis et opportunités » vous expliquez l'importance de ces énergies et vous précis ...
  • Cinq grandes tendances dans une Afrique en mutation
    Authors
    Sabine Cessou
    May 17, 2019
    Sur quelles contraintes faut-il anticiper lorsqu’on évoque la croissance de l’Afrique? Comment guider les décideurs politiques dans les priorités à définir pour piloter l’économie et arriver à bon port dans le monde qui vient? Le séminaire organisé le 11 avril à Paris par le PCNS et le Centre de développement de l’OCDE a apporté des éléments de réponse. La discussion s’est ouverte en prenant appui sur le rapport de référence publié en 2018 par l’Union africaine et l’OCDE sur les “D ...
  • Download PDF
    Energies renouvelables en Afrique : Enjeux, défis et opportunités
    Authors
    Rim Berahab
    May 14, 2019
    Les pays du continent africain ont connu une croissance sans précédent au cours des deux dernières décennies. L’énergie, pilier fondamental du développement économique, politique et social, demeure toutefois un des principaux défis auxquels ils sont confrontés. En effet, la majorité des pays d’Afrique se heurte à un manque important d’accès à l’énergie. Alors que les combustibles fossiles continuent de dominer leurs mix énergétiques, ces pays sont dotés d’abondantes ressources en én ...
  • ARCADIA 2019: Africa and the Global Commodities Markets
    Authors
    Under the direction of
    Philippe Chalmin
    Yves Jégourel
    April 9, 2019
    Commodity prices were once again marked by significant volatility in 2017 and 2018. While there are many economic factors to explain this, politics were also present—trade tensions between China and the United States and, more generally, a rise in uncertainties—weighing upon the global macroeconomic outlook and the ‘dynamism of the markets’. Africa, which has countries with strong growth rates, has, however, been able to show solid economic performance, and this trajectory is not li ...