On 22 January 2022, Germany outlined its policy priorities for its 2022 G7 Presidency. Germany plans to make the climate crisis and its consequences a central issue of its presidency and use it to make the G7 a trailblazer for a climate-neutral economy. Through its international climate club initiative, it plans to pioneer a strong alliance for a sustainable planet through interventions that protect the environment and biodiversity and accelerate the global energy transition.
But this is not the first-time rich nations are making promises on climate action through multilateral systems. The 2021 G7 Summit ended with member countries renewing the pledge developed countries made in 2009 to contribute US$100bn a year in climate finance to poorer countries by 2020. But the target was not met. Even if the target had been met, industry analysts have emphasised that the previous US$100 billion pledge is woefully inadequate to finance the scale of the crisis. Further exacerbating the global climate crisis is Russia’s war against Ukraine, which has increased energy prices and contributed to food insecurity, compounding COVID-19 induced socio-economic.
The economic and political pressure of the war will shape this year’s summit agenda and may divert political attention from global climate challenges. So how can the G7 ensure that their short-term responses to mitigate the effects of the Russian invasion on energy prices and energy diversification efforts do not disrupt longer-term commitments to the just transition and climate neutrality goals? Despite the war, how can the G7 still stay the course and support African countries to secure their climate future for the global common good? Can this be done using the climate club initiative?
APRI – Africa Policy Research Institute convened with experts to discuss and reflect on the questions raised above. The event also discussed key policy recommendations from APRI’s study on G7-Africa climate relations and how and if Germany’s climate club initiative can be designed to increase multilateral support for African countries. The event deepened the current discussion on how the G7 can make concrete progress in supporting Africa’s climate agenda.
The event was moderated by Yacob Mulugetta.
Faten Aggad a Senior Advisor Climate Diplomacy & Geopolitics, Africa Climate Foundation.
Dr Britta Rennkamp a Senior Researcher, African Climate and Development Initiative.
Dr Albert Arhin a Research Fellow, Sustainable Development. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana.