1. EU – Africa Summit next April: African Heads of State to the
rescue of the EU climate ambition
Next 2nd and 3rd of April the EU-Africa Summit will take place. On this occasion, we,
the organizations representing the African civil society turn to our honorable
Commission of the African Union and to the Committee of Heads of State on Climate
Change (CAHOSOCC) and address this message. The African civil society believes
it is essential for Africa to lead the climate ambition of the EU upwards in order meet
the challenges of the upcoming climate agreement next 2015. The European current
"bid" is indeed insufficient to reduce GHG emissions. We, also call to initiate a true
energy shift and embrace renewable energies and energy efficiency for good.
We acknowledge and appreciate the efforts secured by the two continents towards a
paradigm shift in the EU-African relationship between Africa with the topic " Investing
in People, Prosperity and Peace" at the core of the agenda of the strategic
partnership throughout the summit.
Therefore, in order to pave the way towards an ambitious agreement and maintain
this positive momentum to the relationship the EU - Africa we recommend that
African governments:
Maintain pressure for the EU to take into account its 1996- commitments and
help keep the temperature increase below the 2 ° C
The 40 % reduction in emissions by 2030 discussed these days in Europe is indeed
not sufficient to maintain the temperature increase below the 2 ° C threshold. The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommends that global
emissions should reach a peak by 2015. The Fourth Assessment 2007 report shows
that industrialized nations such as the European Union (EU) state members should
reduce their emissions by a 25-40 % cut by 2020 and to 80 to 95% by 2050
compared to 1990 emission levels. This is indeed possible economists say that the
EU could even much more and go beyond 50%, while being an asset for the
economy.
To make access to renewable energies a reality
The second high-level meeting of the Africa - Europe partnership on Energy was held
last 12th and 13th of February 2014 in Addis Ababa and messages were made to be
sent to the upcoming Africa - EU Summit. We support these messages and urge
African leaders to ask their European peers to strengthen their policy on energy.
Indeed, the European Union would like the policies on renewable energies and
energy efficiency to be non-binding after 2020. Yet these policies are necessary and
would be beneficial to Europe as well as reduce the cost of these technologies
internationally, including for developing countries including Africa.