Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Against this background, the rapporteur believes that some improvements shall be made in the remit of the Africa – EU Partnership. First of all, the EU and its Member States shall increase the amount of ODA oriented to the energy sector in Africa, prioritising grants over loans in countries at risk of debt distress. Likewise, in order to overcome energy poverty in Africa, EU financing should be reoriented towards countries with lower rates of access to electricity. More weight should be given to the distribution segment as a strategic element to promote universal access to energy. Gender should be mainstreamed throughout the design of EU development policies and programmes on energy in Africa, while access to clean cooking shall be a priority.

More broadly, the rapporteur believes that the EU and its Member States shall ensure Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development across the EU external energy agenda. On this line, the EU shall support developing countries to implement rights-based renewable energy regime, which is the pre-condition to achieve energy justice. To this effect, the principle of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of all affected populations, their right to say no, to justice and redress as well as to compensation and remuneration, must be fully respected to ensure local acceptance and benefits for the local communities (in terms of jobs, training, access to electricity, etc.).

This is all the more important given that large-scale renewable energy projects, such as green hydrogen based on solar and wind power, hydroelectric power, present both opportunities and challenges in the Global South. For instance, while green hydrogen produced from renewable resources can potentially play a significant role in reaching the Paris climate goals, it may trigger land use conflicts and aggravate poverty.

Generally speaking, developing countries have an abundance of renewable energy sources, which provide a cheaper, more accessible, inclusive and reliable source of energy than fossil fuels. In Africa, which is endowed with many renewable energy sources, dryland areas are seen as excellent sites for generating wind and solar power. With the global energy transition, there is now a trend to use the huge potential of these areas to produce energy. Governments of developing countries use the narrative of “idle” lands or “degraded” land to justify these land acquisition. However, these areas have been used for generations by diverse pastoralist peoples as well as hunter-gatherers and crop farmers as common property resources. The ventures into renewables often ignore their land rights. This exacerbates climate injustice and the risk of “land grabbing for green energy”. To avoid it, the rapporteur believes it is essential to develop among others mapping of traditional land use (including temporal grazing), indigenous cultural heritage and high-value biodiversity systems, prior to the development of renewable energy projects, as well as to develop strong social and environmental standards, including oversight and grievance mechanisms to ensure their compliance. The rapporteur takes the view that the EU’s green hydrogen strategy in Africa shall fully reflect those concerns and be adapted accordingly.

Last but not least, the EU shall lead by example and stop financing fossil fuel projects in Africa. On the contrary, EU and European development finance institutions shall prioritise and step up their investments in decentralised, small-scale and off-grid renewable energy systems, which offer good solutions for remote communities, to achieve SDG7 and “leave no-one behind”.