WAR, PEACE AND THE GREEN
WAR, PEACE AND THE GREEN ECONOMY Path to a just transition in Africa is via green industrialisation On natural gas especially, African leaders and Europeans do not see eye-to-eye. Simply put, the words “transition fuel” have a different meaning in Brussels and Addis Ababa. By ALFONSO MEDINILLA The credibility of Europe’s approach to a green economic transition abroad will depend on its ability to help create and sustain green industrialisation in African countries, making African countries not just targets of European policy, but key actors of a new and interconnected green economy. Africa-Europe discussions on climate and energy are overshadowed by the inherent injustice of global climate action and the risks that an accelerated European transition can entail for African countries. The historical climate injustice is not a debate the EU can win. This is not at all surprising. Africa has barely contributed to global CO2 emissions, is disproportionately affected by climate risk, and is now under pressure to forego fossil-fuel powered growth. The historical climate injustice is not a debate the EU can win. The EU’s response has been a gradual, if hesitant, expansion of its just-transition narrative beyond Europe. The idea of prioritising and concentrating investments in those countries that will be most affected by phasing-out fossil 27
