The week of discussions and presentations in Brussels (17-21 February) began with an overview of the global climate and ecological challenges, and the European Commission’s policy response to the crisis: the European Green Deal. Sessions over the rest of the week drilled deeper into related topics: climate change; biodiversity; forest management; food systems; energy; cities; water and oceans, green, circular and climate neutral economies; and sustainable finance and green investments. Representatives from EU Delegations played a key role by sharing experiences and presenting examples of their actions on the ground and by providing crucial input to the discussions about the external dimension of the Green Deal.

DEVCO presented the new development cooperation instrument, NDICI, which is still being developed and should come into force in January 2021. A global instrument, it will contain a specific target of 25 % for spending on climate objectives and an increased focus on climate and environment mainstreaming.

To set the scene, Dr Andrew Steer of the World Resources Institute described the scale of the challenge. The decade 2010-2019 was record-breakingly bad for the environment: by far the hottest decade on record; it saw more extreme weather events recorded than ever before; air pollution at its highest level in history; 2 billion people facing looming water crises and forest fires at unprecedented levels. In the face of this, Europe is the ‘indispensable leader’, and the Green Deal is ‘probably the most important document in our space in the past 10 years’, he said.

The European Green Deal aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, leading the world to a circular economy and through the biodiversity crisis. For delegations, the new programming period for 2021-2027 is “a unique opportunity to contribute to delivery of this priority of the new Commission”, said DEVCO deputy director general Marjeta Jager. This can be achieved through diplomacy, policies and cooperation with partner countries to support a fair transition to an inclusive green economy.

Tosi Mpanu Mpanu, Ambassador and principal climate negotiator for the DRC, welcomed the EU Green Deal and congratulated the EU for leading efforts to achieve a global biodiversity deal in 2020. He called for donors to put Africans at heart of the transformation: “Training the young generation – our greatest capital – is essential,” he said.

Presentations from the week are available on the Capacity for Development knowledge-sharing platform.