Policy Updates

On December 2, 2023, during the opening days of COP28, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, France, Kenya, Spain, and the African Union Commission, with the European Commission as an observer, jointly launched a new taskforce on international taxation.

The taskforce is the result of discussions initiated at the June 2023 Paris Summit for a New Financing Pact and the September 2023 African Climate Summit, held in Nairobi.

The taskforce was announced with the goal to identify innovative finance mechanisms and mobilize new, additional, predictable and adequate financial resources for development, climate change and the protection of biodiversity. It is intended to ensure that all economic sectors, particularly those with a low tax burden, contribute a fair share to climate financing according to respective greenhouse gas emission levels.

The taskforce is planned to analyze various taxation options, such as a global carbon tax regime, a carbon tax on the fossil fuel trade, shipping, and aviation, as well as a global Financial Transaction Tax.

The members of the coalition mobilized around the taskforce stated their openness to cooperation with other countries and CSOs. The taskforce will be supported by the European Climate Foundation.

The next steps for the taskforce were listed as:

• The appointment of experts and the creation of a detailed working plan in early 2024;
• The presentation of the taskforce's mandate and initial assessments at COP29 in late 2024; and
• The formulation of concrete proposals, to be adopted by relevant institutions at COP30 in 2025.

On December 2, 2023, the EU institutions, the EIB, the EBRD, and the Member States that comprise Team Europe pledged EUR20 billion (US$21.8 billion) for clean energy partnerships with African partners.

The funding announcement listeed EUR3.4 billion (US$3.7 billion) in grants and covered the period from 2021-2027. The project, AEGEI, aims to produce over 50 Gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030.

12 EU Member States contributed to the funding. No language regarding specific partner countries was included in the announcement.

On November 21, 2023, CNDSI, a multi-stakeholder platform coordinated by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, adopted a report entitled 2030 Agenda: Acting in favor of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda through French foreign policy.

This report is the result of a consultative process held ahead of the second Voluntary National Review, published in July 2023. The report was led under a working group co-chaired by Olivier Bruyeron from Coordination SUD and Sébastien Treyer from IDDRI. It mobilized a number of participants, including academics, NGOs, local authorities, public authorities, and the private sector.

The report identified seven priority areas for French foreign affairs policy to support the achievement of Agenda 2030:

• Promote a holistic approach to the 2030 Agenda;
• Increase the coherence of French public policies;
• Adopt a policy implementation decision cycle;
• Provide direct funding targeted towards the SDGs at local and international levels;
• Promote the adoption of public policies at the European level and in international bodies;
• Promote technical and financial partnerships, avoiding working in silos; and
• Better consider the needs, rights, and aspirations of recipients.

On October 25-26, 2023, the EU hosted the Global Gateway Forum, which invited stakeholders from international businesses, partner countries, and CSOs.

The two-day conference aimed to increase visibility of the Global Gateway program, the EU's investment and ODA platform, which aims to strengthen Europe's ties with partner countries while addressing contemporary challenges like climate change or energy transition.

Over the course of the conference, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Uprilainen announced a variety of partnerships and funding, including:

• EUR634 million (US$669 million) for global health, including EUR500 million (US$528 million) for a partnership between the EIB, BMGF to support SMEs working on global health R&D and vaccine development, and EUR134 million (US$141 million) to support health product manufacturing in Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, and South Africa;
• EUR500 million (EUR528 million) to launch a credit facility for the EU's Just Energy Transition Partnership with Vietnam, which will focus on decarbonization projects, and was accompanied by EUR1 billion (US$1.1 billion) in loans from the EIB, AFD, and KfW;
• EUR470 million (US$496 million) for Bangladesh, including an EUR395 million (US$418 million) loan from the EIB for solar and wing projects, and EUR70 million education, and combatting GBV;
• EUR146 million (US$154 million) from the EU and AFD for Tanzania to support the construction of a hydropower plant on the Kagera river;
• EUR72 million (US$76 million) for the 2023 EU - Kenya cooperation priorities, which included assistance for green energy transition, shoring up cybersecurity, combatting female genital cutting, and strengthening democratic structures; and
• EUR46 million (US$49 million) to support the foundation of a Regional Teacher Facility in Africa to support the realization of commitments made at the 2022 Transforming Education Summit, with an emphasis on foundational learning, capacity-building, and technical assistance for partner countries in Africa.

While the event resulted in a variety of high-level commitments, observers expressed concern at the mismatch between representation from partner countries, many of whom sent heads of government or state, and EU Member States, some of which either did not attend or were represented by lower-level officials.

On October 19, 2023, Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen pledged EUR780 million (US$827 million) in ODA loans and grants for Nigeria through the global Gateway program.

The funding was announced ahead of the eighth Nigeria-EU strategic dialogue, which convened EU representatives and members of the new Nigerian government to discuss existing partnerships and new opportunities for cooperation. Key components of the support included:

• EUR116 million (US$123 million) in ODA financing agreements for global health, sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture, SRH and MNCH, energy access and renewable energy capacity, and education, all with a focus on supporting women and young people; and
• EUR600 million (US$636 million) in EIB loans for a green transportation project for inland shipping, with support from the AFD, support for SMEs, and renewable energy capacity.

On October 16, 2023, French Secretary of State for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships Chrysoula Zacharopoulou and Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat called for an ambitious reform of the global financial architecture following the annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF in Marrakech, Morocco.

The ministers acknowledged the numerous challenges facing a reform of the international financial institutions while emphasizing progress since the Paris Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in June 2023, which resulted in the adoption of the Pact for the People and the Planet. The pact has since driven the discussions of the G20 Summit, the African Climate Summit, and the UN General Assembly.

The ministers reiterated the importance the Pact's four main priorities, which consisted of:

• No country should have to choose between fighting extreme poverty and combating climate change;
• A nation's development trajectory and ecological transition must be based on its national priorities;
• A shock of concessional finance is needed in the international development system; and
• It is essential to mobilize private finance to accelerate achievement of the SDGs.

The ministers noted the September 2023 agreement to increase the financing capacity of MDBs by US$200 billion as a key achievement. They also pointed out the global agreement to issue US$650 billion in SDRs and redirect 20% of SDRs to countries most in need as notable progress, a ratio which France pledged to raise to 40%.

October 16, 2023, which marked World Food Day, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs made a series of announcements concerning nutrition initiatives.

The initiatives included:

• The disbursement of EUR1 billion (US$1.1 billion) for food security in 2022, as part of its 2019-2024 international strategy for food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture;
• The organization of the Nutrition for Growth Summit in 2024 or 2025, which aims to mobilize political and financial support for nutrition; and
• The organization of the 13^th IFAD replenishment, co-organized with Angola, which aims to mobilize funding for the organization for the next three years and to which France already committed US$150 million.

The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs also detailed the organization of the first meeting of the Global School Meals Coalition, taking place in Paris. The initiative was launched in 2021 by the WFP, with the support of France and Finland, to offer every child in world access to necessary school meals by 2030.

On October 12, 2023, the French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna, Minister of Higher Education and Research Sylvie Retailleau, and Minister of Health and Prevention Aurélien Rousseau introduced France's new Global Health Strategy for 2023-2027.

Director-General of the WHO Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took part in the event in Lyon. The WHO Academy, currently under construction, is planned to formally open in Lyon in 2024.

The strategy contained five main objectives:

• Promote equitable and resilient healthcare systems to achieve universal healthcare coverage;
• Promote the health and well-being of populations, and prevent and combat disease at all stages of life;
• Better prepare for and respond to public health emergencies and the consequences of climate change, with a "One Health" approach;
• Promote a new global health architecture; and
• Support French research and expertise.

The strategy was described as a continuation of the previous 2017-2021 strategy and contained cross-cutting objectives included in other development strategies.

On October 5, 2023, France pledged EUR1.6 billion (US$1.7 billion) to the GCF's 2024-2027 cycle during the GCF's second high-level replenishment conference in Bonn, Germany.

This is France's largest contribution since the creation of the GCF, making it the GCF's third-largest donor. 25 countries have pledged a total of US$9.33 billion, with additional pledges expected by COP28 in November 2023.

According to the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, France exceeded its climate finance target in 2022, allocating EUR7.6 billion (US$8 billion) to climate finance. This included EUR2.6 billion (US$2.8 billion) for climate change adaptation. Climate adaptation finance is targeted to reach US$6 billion annually by 2025.

On September 29, 2023, General Director of the AFD Rémy Rioux and French Minister of State for Development, International Partnerships, and the Francophonie Chrysoula Zacharopoulou outlined France's vision for development finance reform.

France recognized a lack of progress of the World Bank to fully consider climate change as a top priority and invited MDBs to innovate on this issue through the Finance in Common Summit. The summit is an annual network of more than 500 MDBs which mobilizes US$2.7 trillion in annual investment, close to the US$3 trillion UN estimate to achieve the SDGs. The network includes MDBs, bilateral development agencies, and domestic development banks investing at the national and sub-national level.

France outlined plans to request that both the IMF and the World Bank to contribute more to financial reform during their forthcoming annual meetings in Marrakech. France also noted their recommendation that national governments add climate finance obligations to the mandates of their national banks. The AFD has recently started increasing its support for national development banks abroad in lieu of funding its own independent projects.

Following the New Financing Pact Summit held in June 2023 and the 78^th UN General Assembly in September 2023, France has consistently supported reform of international financial architecture. France has also prioritized including China in financial reforms, which it considers to be a major player in the current debt crisis many African partner countries face.

Zacharopoulou noted that France intends to take advantage of the World Bank and IMF meetings in Marrakech and COP28 in Dubai later in 2023 to make progress on the issue.