EU values don’t impress Africa much – Climate Weekly

“There are no democratic railways and non-democratic railways,” tweets Nigerian development consultant Ovigwe Eguegu. “‘I prefer to drive on roads financed by democracies’ said no one ever.”

In a nutshell this is why most African nations prefer to deal with China rather than the EU. China, despite its flaws and all that it has to offer, does the job.

And it explains why the EU’s launch of a “global gateway” initiative to rival the belt and road earlier this month fell a little flat. Before boasting about its superior green governance credentials, Brussels had not consulted African partners.

One of the points of contention is gas: most of western Europe is cutting off finance for all fossil fuels, while some developing countries – including Nigeria – see fossil gas as a transition fuel.

There are solid and principled reasons why EU member states and EU are applying stricter climate criteria. A halt to funding for oil and natural gas infrastructure is consistent with what the International Energy Agency believes is necessary to limit global warming to 1.5C. The “leapfrog” to clean energy in Africa is a worthy aspiration.

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Unfortunately, Brussels doesn’t seem to be following such a high standard within its bloc. Last month, it signed off $15bn worth of gas projects as “priority infrastructure”. The latest draft climate legislation, which it has just released, would allow gas grid operators and others to continue to propose new pipelines or LNG terminals for the next ten years.

EU commissioners have stated that fossil gas will play a smaller role in the energy system. As the bloc aims to net zero emissions, long-term import contracts will be terminated after 2049.

But they are reluctant to follow this line. Gas grids should be eliminated as applications such as cooking and heating switch over to (cleaner) electricity. The grid operators who control the transition will prevent this from happening.

The main reason to back some last gas projects are energy security. This means reducing Russia’s dependence and protecting households from price shocks. Why not invest that money in heatpumps, electric stoves, insulation?

If the EU is to have influence over African and other partner countries in the developing world, it must listen to them and then act at home.