Tackling Climate Crisis: Exploring the Implications of the Proposed G7 Climate Club on Climate and Development Agendas of African Countries

This report by the Africa Policy Research Institute examines the potential impacts of the G7 Climate Club on African countries. While acknowledging the goal of achieving global net-zero emissions by mid-century, the author argues that the Club's current design—particularly its focus on rapid decarbonisation and carbon-leakage reduction—could undermine African economic growth, energy security, and industrialisation. The report calls for a co-designed approach that prioritises climate justice, technological transfer, and financial support over trade-based sanctions.

• The G7 Climate Club is an intergovernmental forum established in December 2022 to support the Paris Agreement and achieve global net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century. It is built on three pillars: advancing transparent and ambitious mitigation policies, transforming industries for decarbonisation, and boosting partnerships for climate action.
• The report identifies a history of unfulfilled G7 commitments to Africa, which undermines trust in the Climate Club. Examples include the failure to reallocate US$100bn of Special Drawing Rights, providing only 0.32% of the pledged 0.7% of gross national income for international aid by 2021, and slow progress on the US$10 billion pledge for the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative.
• Rapid decarbonisation goals may conflict with the economic realities of African nations, many of which rely heavily on hydrocarbons for revenue. Approximately 50% of export revenues for African countries come from hydrocarbon products; for instance, Nigeria generates 57% of government revenues and over 94% of export earnings from petrodollars.
• The Climate Club's focus on industrial decarbonisation could increase production costs and cause job losses in African sectors like steel, cement, aluminium, and plastics. The report notes that the cost of new technologies may be prohibitively high for small and medium-sized producers.
• Trade-based mechanisms to reduce carbon leakage, such as the EU-led Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), could severely damage African exports and economic growth. Estimated welfare losses for Egypt and Mozambique are between US$1 billion and US$5 billion, with Mozambique's economy potentially shrinking by 2.5%.
• African countries' climate priorities, as expressed in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), center on five themes: unlocking climate finance through better partnerships, effective adaptation and renewable energy access, institutional strengthening, broader socio-economic development (poverty and employment), and technological transfer.
• The report recommends that the G7 Climate Club be co-designed with African countries to ensure climate justice and the principle of 'Common but Differentiated Responsibilities'. It suggests that G7 countries should accommodate differential pathways, such as Nigeria's 2060 carbon neutrality target compared to the G7's 2050 target.

APA

Kalaba, F. K. (2023). Tackling Climate Crisis: Exploring the Implications of the Proposed G7 Climate Club on Climate and Development Agendas of African Countries. Africa Policy Research Institute. https://afripoli.org/tackling-climate-crisis-exploring-the-implications-of-the-proposed-g7-climate-club-on-climate-and-development-agendas-of-african-countries

Chicago

Kalaba, Felix Kanungwe. Tackling Climate Crisis: Exploring the Implications of the Proposed G7 Climate Club on Climate and Development Agendas of African Countries. Africa Policy Research Institute, 2023. https://afripoli.org/tackling-climate-crisis-exploring-the-implications-of-the-proposed-g7-climate-club-on-climate-and-development-agendas-of-african-countries.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kalaba |first1=Felix Kanungwe |title=Tackling Climate Crisis: Exploring the Implications of the Proposed G7 Climate Club on Climate and Development Agendas of African Countries |publisher=Africa Policy Research Institute |date=4 July 2023 |url=https://afripoli.org/tackling-climate-crisis-exploring-the-implications-of-the-proposed-g7-climate-club-on-climate-and-development-agendas-of-african-countries |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kalaba2023tackling, author = {Kalaba, Felix Kanungwe}, title = {{Tackling Climate Crisis: Exploring the Implications of the Proposed G7 Climate Club on Climate and Development Agendas of African Countries}}, institution = {Africa Policy Research Institute}, year = {2023}, month = jul, url = {https://afripoli.org/tackling-climate-crisis-exploring-the-implications-of-the-proposed-g7-climate-club-on-climate-and-development-agendas-of-african-countries}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }