Ten years after the Paris Agreement, building the global green economy is bound to an Africa-Europe Grand Bargain

On 22 April 2016, world leaders gathered to sign the Paris Agreement, committing to a shared vision of climate stability. A decade on, the challenge for Africa and Europe is no longer defining ambition but delivering it.

The ongoing conflict in the Persian Gulf has once again exposed the fragility of global energy and food systems. By destabilising markets and threatening supply routes, it has reinforced the role of oil and gas as essential buffers against disruption whilst recalling the importance of energy self-reliance and the urgent need for renewables. In times of crisis, fossil fuels and clean power, deeply embedded in existing infrastructure, remain the default guarantee of stability. The war in Ukraine had already triggered a similar shock, forcing Europe to scramble for alternatives and rushing for diversification of energy supplies.

This does not signal a reversal of the transition, but instead reflects uneven dynamics, with distortions in some areas and acceleration in others. Whilst resources tend to shift toward short-term resilience, supply chains for clean power are peaking. The lesson is clear: a successful transition must be grounded in strategic autonomy and resilient and diversified supply chains, while anchored in geoeconomics and industrial policy reality.

Africa is central to Europe’s needs for achieving its green, digital, and security transitions - yet it is too often spoken about in terms of vulnerability to climate change and declining ODA, instead of its strategic competitive assets that can contribute to the global net-zero economy. It holds a significant share of the world’s critical minerals – cobalt, lithium, graphite, rare earths, PGMs – essential for batteries, renewables and low-carbon technologies. Yet the continent cannot remain a supplier of raw materials. The future lies in clean industrial value chains, local value addition, regional beneficiation, and green industrialisation.

This transformation is already underway. EU-Africa initiatives such as AfricaMaVal and LuNA Smelter, highlighted in the Africa-Europe Foundation’s State of Africa-Europe Report 2025, seek to promote responsible mining and local value creation, linking ESG standards with industrial capacity. They point toward a new model: one where Africa moves up the value chain while Europe secures a transparent and sustainable supply of semi-processed minerals for its triple transitions.

Europe, for its part, faces its own climate and competitiveness imperatives: transitioning while reducing dependencies. But it cannot do so alone. The green molecules, green products, and raw materials needed for Europe’s transitions could largely come from Africa. Ensuring access is not just about extraction – it must be about co-investment, co-production and long-term value creation through an enhanced EU-Africa partnership.

Africa and Europe share interconnected ambitions and complementary capabilities across industry, technology, finance, policy, and human capital. Together, they can build integrated value chains – from minerals to clean technologies, energy and agri-food systems – creating jobs, resilience and shared prosperity.

This AU-EU partnership must go beyond its core focus on energy, digital, transport and infrastructure. As highlighted in the State of Africa-Europe Report 2025, untapped sectors of cooperation such as agri-food systems and the blue economy offer enormous potential for sustainable industrialisation and value chains development. Furthermore, linking ecosystem restoration, agri- and blue-food systems, with industrial potential could strengthen both supply chain resilience, socio-economic growth and a climate-proof future.

Such cooperation is also strategic. By supporting Africa’s sectoral industrial value chains, Europe diversifies and reduces risks, cuts exposure to geopolitical shocks and strengthens its own economic security.

Africa and Europe each hold a crucial piece of the puzzle. Together, they can build a new model of green industrialisation, powered by fairness, sustainability, and mutual benefit. Turbulent times need joint action from like-minded partners. This Green Grand Bargain could be the cornerstone of a global climate strategy that is not only effective, but equitable.

Ten years after Paris, and as we move towards COP32 in Ethiopia in 2027, success will not be measured by pledges, but by concrete Africa-Europe cooperation and action on green industrialisation and value addition. The transition will not be delivered by ambition alone, but by productive investment along infrastructure, industry and partnerships.

The time for incremental cooperation has passed. What is needed now is decisive, joint action.

This op-ed was first published on Le Point