The African Union's first climate strategy – And EU-Africa climate cooperation

Briefing 07-11-2022

African countries, which disproportionately suffer from the adverse impacts of climate change, are aiming to strongly voice their position at the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27, 6-18 November 2022) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is hosted by one of them, Egypt. African states and the African Union (AU) insist that richer industrial countries, which bear greater responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions, should do more to tackle them. According to the African parties to the UNFCCC, Africa's special circumstances should be taken into account when it comes to phasing down the exploitation of fossil fuels. At the same time, the AU is aware that following the same path as richer industrial countries is unsustainable. It has recently made public a comprehensive strategy to address climate change. While non-binding for AU members, this strategy aims to develop resource-efficient industry and make key sectors such as agriculture and food systems, water resources, energy, infrastructure and transport more climate-resilient. This would imply stronger governance of national and regional climate-related programmes, improving climate literacy and setting up efficient early-warning systems and climate information services. It also highlights the need to build on local and indigenous knowledge, and to create safety nets so that no one is left behind in the green transition. With this blueprint, the AU proposes a vision it hopes will rally both its member states and other UNFCCC parties. While the European Union (EU) is among the main supporters of African climate policies, the AU calls upon the EU and international donors to scale up climate finance to help Africa achieve the ambitions laid down in its climate strategy. The European Parliament requests that the EU and its Member States align their policies with the EU's international commitments on climate action, to improve cooperation with Africa in this matter.