1.
Dakar and Lomé, Friday, 28th
of March 2014,
EU-Africa Summit: Energy transition to the rescue of the climate
ambition
Next 2nd to 3rd
of April 2014 the Africa-EU Summit will gather Heads of states and focus on
the core topic "Investing in people, prosperity and peace." On this occasion, we trust the
Commission of the African Union and Committee of African Heads of State and
Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) will call the European Union to strengthen
the objectives of combating climate expected to serve as a baseline for the agreement to be
adopted in 2015.
In the context of EU negotiations in order to define its upcoming" climate and energy package
', Member States offer to reduce their GHG emissions by only 40% compared to 1990 levels
by 2030. This "bid" is not sufficient and does not represent the fair share of Europe in
the effort to control global warming, under the critical 2 ° C threshold yet vital for the
survival of our people in Africa. The targets suggested by the EU are also insufficient to
trigger a transition based on renewable energies and energy efficiency. Worse still is the
European proposal to postpone most of the efforts to achieve by 2050 after 2030, while the
IPCC recommended that global emissions start to decline now. We are joining the ranks of
economists who advocate a more ambitious climate policy in Europe while not harming its
competitiveness.
Taking advantage of this positive momentum and in order to keep on track towards an
ambitious agreement in 2015, we are convinced that the climate -Energy development
package must be at the heart of the future EU-Africa partnership. To this end, we
recommend that African governments maintain the pressure in order to secure the EU’s
energy transition and make the access to renewable energies a reality in each and every
Member State as well as in its cooperation policy with Africa.
While we appreciate the efforts made over decades by the two continents in the field of
renewable energies and energy efficiency, we organizations of African civil society, believe
that much remains to be done in order to defend and secure sustainable access to energy
services in the context of climate change.
The second high-level meeting of the Africa- Europe Partnership on energy which tool place
last 12th
and 13th
of February 2014 in Addis Ababa stressed that energy poverty remains one

2. of the biggest challenges for development in Africa. That is why we expect the EU-Africa
partnership to enable- with the help of public funding and transfer of appropriate
technology - to support and strengthen the extension of renewable energies and energy
efficiency within our continent, in response to both energy and climate challenges. The
work of the EU-Africa partnership on energy can help transform the international layout in
the energy sector: firstly, by integrating the "access to sustainable energy for all" as a target
within the post -2015 development program, and secondly by making renewable energies and
energy efficiency the guiding principles of the global agreement on climate change end of
2015 .