Implementing the climate action pillar of the EU-African Union Partnership on Climate Change and Sustainable Energy

Funded projects will contribute to:

• A reinforced joint AU–EU strategy and coordination mechanism for the climate action pillar of the CCSE Partnership, leading to more effective stakeholder contributions;

• Better aligned and defragmented climate R&I agendas and initiatives across EU, national and multilateral levels, maximizing funding impact;

• Narrowing of Africa’s climate-related data gap and improved access to, and deployment of, advanced climate knowledge and services for science-based decision-making, supporting Paris Agreement and 2030 Agenda goals;

• More accurate assessment of climate impacts and risks, development of adaptation strategies, and deployment of early warning systems, strengthening AU countries’ disaster resilience in line with EU Adaptation and Disaster Resilience frameworks, the Sendai Framework, Nairobi Declaration and Early Warnings for All;

• A strengthened African climate research community with increased representation, diversity and quality of contributions to international processes (e.g., IPCC, IPBES) and global R&I networks.

Projects must:

• Address the “Climate Action for adaptation and mitigation” pillar of the AU–EU CCSE Partnership, focusing on climate-related data, climate services and integrated knowledge to support AU countries’ Paris Agreement and SDG implementation;

• Serve as a preparatory step for future joint collaborative R&I activities between the EU and AU Member States;

• Frame all activities around enhancing climate literacy, uptake of climate services and early warning systems, and user-centred capacity building within Africa’s socio-economic context;

• Deliver, within year one, a joint roadmap with clear priorities, flagship actions and feasible implementation architecture, including non-EU financing instruments;

• Mobilise commitments from a broad range of funders (national, philanthropic, financial institutions) for subsequent collaborative actions, ideally securing a Horizon Europe co-fund slot in the 2026–2027 programme;

• Map and cluster existing EU-funded initiatives, curate and disseminate their outputs via an integrated, user-friendly repository linked to international and national funding streams;

• Investigate reciprocal learning between Europe and Africa and integrate lessons from EU Missions (Adaptation to Climate Change, PRIMA);

• Design and start executing a capacity-building plan that ensures diversity and inclusion (women, youth, indigenous, marginalised), boosts African representation in global fora, and accelerates production of policy-relevant climate products;

• Build a consortium with strong African partner involvement (minimum 40% of beneficiaries), including core funding agencies, research bodies and climate service centres;

• Promote multi-stakeholder engagement (scientists, policymakers, practitioners, local communities, private sector) and value indigenous and citizen science contributions;

• Manage all data in accordance with FAIR principles;

• Seek synergies and improve coordination with existing multilateral and bilateral programmes (CS4RRA, ClimSA, World Meteorological Organization, Copernicus, etc.);

• Integrate lessons from the energy pillar implementation of the CCSE Partnership.