Constructing an african governance system for climate justice: challenges and limitations

The African continent is undertaking considerable efforts to integrate climate regimes, although it is a low polluter. This proactivity lies in the demand for "climate justice" through financing, compensation and concerted actions to address its vulnerability to the consequences of climate change. African states act individually, by applying for sectoral aid from the Green Climate Fund and for development aid focused on the environment. They are also acting collectively through the formulation of a pan-African strategy to combat climate change and the creation of an African Climate Negotiators Group under the aegis of the African Union. While some states are doing quite well individually (Morocco, for example, has embarked on a major energy transition and has secured two major Green Climate Funds), others (particularly the poorest such as Burkina Faso) are being dictated to by their economic policies. At the collective level, African countries are unable to agree on an updated program, while the strategy established in 2012 has not been implemented. Yet the African Union has also embarked on an ambitious project of economic integration through continental free trade (Afcta), which began in January 2021. During the negotiations, the environment was not discussed. Although the Afcta is supposed to serve economic justice for Africa, the rules of its implementation may also increase the weight of multinational firms without being subject to environmental and social standards, which may cause further environmental injustice. This presentation analyzes the strategies of the African Union and the African Group at the UN in the spheres of climate negotiations, with the aim of identifying the normative communities influencing the decisions of African states and addressing the inconsistencies in their diplomatic orientations as a collective actor.