From EURACTIV
By Clara Bauer-Babef | EURACTIV France | translated by Daniel Eck
March 25, 2021 (updated: March 26, 2021)
On behalf of the European Commission, the Director General for Climate Protection Raffaele Mauro Petricione admitted that “the climate policy expectations of an African country are not the same as those of a European country”.
Languages: French
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Some African countries regard the EU’s planned CO2 border levy as “protectionist”. This was the result of a conference organized by the French government on Tuesday 23 March to examine the challenges posed by the forthcoming EU mechanism. EURACTIV France reports.
According to Youba Sokona, vice-chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a mechanism to adjust carbon limits would harm “countries with less financial and human capacity”, especially those with low carbon emissions.
On behalf of the European Commission, the Director General for Climate Action, Mauro Petricione, admitted that “what is expected of an African country in terms of climate policy is not the same as that of a European country”.
“This will lead to heated debates,” he admitted.
Timothy Gore of the Institute for European Environmental Policy shared Sokona’s concerns, noting that “it all depends on the scope of action” and the products that will be included.
“These countries are very dependent on aluminum exports, they will be very exposed. The ambiguity of the European discourse is to define a small category of high intensity products. However, we don’t know who will be affected, ”he added.
Poor countries ready to receive funding from the EU carbon frontier levy
The future mechanism for adjusting the carbon limits is part of the “new own resources” for the EU budget and must be used to “fight global warming” around the world, said Green MEP Yannick Jadot on Wednesday (March 3rd). EURACTIV France reports.
Non-European manufacturers are not discriminated against
While agreeing on “the path to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and moving towards carbon-free economies as outlined in the recent IPCC report”, Sokona recalled that 80% of African electricity “comes from fossil fuels”.
Petricione called this number “catastrophic” and warned that “Energy in Africa is one of the biggest problems we will face in the future”.
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