The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA), the political forum for the partnership between the EU and the 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, is particularly concerned about the impact of climate change and natural disasters on Small island developing States (SIDS).
On the eve of the publication of the IPCC’s sixth report (see other news), the 41st JPA adopted, on Sunday 3 April, an urgent resolution calling on the EU and industrialised countries to do more to help build the resilience of these particularly vulnerable small countries. Concern was also expressed about the impact of the war in Ukraine on ACP developing countries. The JPA also expressed impatience with the entry into force of the post-Cotonou Agreement - this 41st session being the last to be held under the Cotonou Agreement (see EUROPE 12922/17). Although there was no agreement on everything, the debates were frank.
“This JPA session has shown the importance of strengthening our dialogue in view of achieving the (UN) 2030 Agenda and the Paris [Climate] Agreement”, said the ACP Co-President, Peter Kenilorea, Jr. (Solomon Islands).
Do more for adaptation and invest in resilience. In its emergency resolution - the only one adopted - the Assembly expressed concern that the commitments made so far by developed countries are far from sufficient to meet the collective target of allocating $100 billion per year to support developing countries’ mitigation and adaptation efforts. It recalls that “industrialised countries are the main responsible for industrial emissions and carbon leakage by using fossil fuels, and therefore responsible for climate change that directly affects SIDS”.
The JPA regrets that only 20% of current climate finance targets adaptation and affirms that Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism revenues should be used for scaling up climate finance for least developed countries and SIDS, in particular for adaptation purposes.
It calls on ACP and EU governments to place greater emphasis on investment in projects and infrastructure to increase the resilience of ACP countries and in particular SIDS to mitigate the effects of climate change and help them better adapt to it. It encourages ACP governments to work, with the support of the EU and its Member States, with all relevant multilateral institutions to strengthen their resilience and sustainability. Stressing the seriousness of irreversible global warming, it urges world leaders to work together for the benefit of all people and the planet.
No united position on West Africa and the Sahel. ACP and European MPs discussed the security threat to stability and peace in West Africa and the Sahel and the resulting governance problems and impoverishment. In this context, participants also discussed the Covid-19 crisis, climate change and land scarcity, all of which threaten peace and security in parts of the Sahel and West Africa. Many MEPs expressed concern about the spread of terrorism and stressed the importance of tackling the causes of poverty and instability.
However, the emergency resolution that was to be adopted on West Africa and the Sahel could not be adopted. The text had been prepared by the European side. ACP MPs had not tabled a draft resolution and did not manage to reach a common position on this sensitive issue for African MPs. No text was therefore put to the vote.
“We regret that this Assembly did not live up to its political potential. A possible clear positioning on the situation in the Sahel was prevented by those African representatives that are part of the problem. Moreover, on the Russian war against Ukraine, it was also impossible to find a common appropriate language”, Michael Gahler MEP (EPP, Germany), his group’s spokesperson for foreign affairs, declared on Monday 4 April.
“We can and must express our solidarity with the victims of war”, stressed the ACP Co-President, Peter Kenilorea, Jr.
Call for the urgent signing of the Post-Cotonou Agreement. MEPs and ACP MPs deplored the fact that the Post-Cotonou Agreement for a renewed and modernised partnership between the EU and the Organisation of ACP States (OACPS) - which was initialled in April 2021 by the EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, and Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey - has still not been signed by the EU. They called for it to be signed without delay, a sentiment welcomed by the JPA Co-President Carlos Zorrinho (S&D, Portugal).
The ball is in Hungary’s court, which is blocking the signature because of the ‘Migration’ component of the future Agreement (see EUROPE 12859/26). The current Cotonou Agreement has been extended until June 2022.
Ms Urpilainen stressed the importance of “having a new framework to meet today’s challenges”. She added: “We must not lose the momentum of the new agreement. The Commission strongly supports it and is committed to its implementation as soon as possible. I invite you to urge the Council to unblock the situation”.
At the opening of the JPA on 1 April, the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, expressed the hope that the signing could take place as soon as possible. However, the traditional exchange between the members of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly and the Council of the EU did not take place due to the French electoral calendar.
See the emergency resolution adopted: https://aeur.eu/f/13o (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)