POINT OF VIEW/ Jose Manuel Barroso:Japan can work with EU to help Africa develop

According to an African proverb, "if you want to travel fast, you travel alone; if you want to travel far, you travel together."

This year, Japan is in the spotlight and expected to provide leadership for the world's most dramatic challenges. It will host the Group of Eight (G-8) summit in July. The EU wants to travel with Japan.

I am very much looking forward to my participation in the G-8 summit in Hokkaido this summer. In the EU, we respect and admire Japan very much as a country with which we share the same basic values of freedom and democracy. The EU and Japan together have to formulate a response to two huge challenges in particular--climate change and development.

In so many ways, both challenges converge. The poorest, most vulnerable countries are among the worst affected. Climate change is oblivious to borders, continents or North-South divides. The international community has a responsibility to help these countries move toward economic growth that produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change.

It is in line with the agreement reached in Bali, Indonesia, to launch negotiations aimed at getting a global agreement on climate change by 2009 in Copenhagen.

This is one of the objectives the EU set itself. The commission is convinced that climate policies in partner countries cannot be financed only with official development assistance (ODA). In consultation with the World Bank, the EU is studying the idea of a world loan drawing on the resources raised by auctioning emission rights on the carbon market.

A lot is at stake. The only solution is to act collectively. If each of us tries to find a "quick fix" on our own to reassure our voters that we are doing something, we will not be able to face future generations, and in particular Africa's youth.

Rising oil prices have cost Africans more than the aid they receive from donors. We have riots over food prices. Examples today show that the situation is dramatic: Global warming beyond 2 degrees could annihilate all efforts the world has made to reach the Millennium Development Goals.

We cannot simply discuss how to pay for adaptation in Africa. The first priority must be to find a binding agreement next year in Copenhagen to limit global warming to 2 degrees and then to do as much as possible to help those countries most affected. The only way to achieve both is to work together and coordinate initiatives with Africa and among ourselves.

The downturn in global ODA in 2007 for the second year shows that the entire donor community is failing to assume its responsibility. All major donors, including Japan, must do more on commitments and ensure their fulfillment on the basis of a fair burden sharing. For the moment, the EU is financing 90 percent of the G-8 pledges to increase aid.

The other G-8 partners must act decisively, as our collective credibility could erode fast if we don't deliver on the commitments we have made.

The times when donors could pursue their pet projects, each with their own priorities and procedures, are over. The EU has got its act together. We don't want donors continuing in their bad old ways. If doubling aid for Africa led to a doubling of the number of projects, the situation would become unsustainable.

Every year, Tanzania has to produce 2,400 reports for aid donors. In Mali, more than 26 donors are active in the rural development sector alone. Even if every donor has a great project, the sheer number of projects suffocates the African country.

The EU has agreed on a division of labor among the 27 member states and the European Commission. We together provide 55 percent of global ODA and can make a significant contribution to aid effectiveness. I call on Japan to join this effort to make aid more effective through a division of labor among donors and alignment on country priorities and systems.

We want to engage with Japan on a global leadership deal: We need to work out a formula that allows us to travel together so we can travel far to promote Africa's growth, development and security, and face the global challenge of climate change.

* * *

The author is president of the European Commission.(IHT/Asahi: May 13,2008)