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Monday, March 2, 2015

Paris climate deal leads African Ministers confab on environment

Egypt is hosting the fifteenth session of African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN) holding 2-6 March 2015 on the theme: "Managing Africa’s Natural Capital for Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication".

The focus of the meeting is on harnessing Africa’s natural capital, taking into consideration the region’s diverse biodiversity and ecosystems.

This session is being held in a crucial year for global and regional action to secure our global future.

The meeting comes at the heels of the recently concluded 20th UNFCCC Conference (COP20) held in Lima and also at a time when the African Civil Society is gearing its momentum towards the 21st UNFCCC COP to be held in Paris, France.

The world is also engaged in critical negotiations that will lead to the adoption of a post-2015 development agenda, including a set of Sustainable Development Goals that will chart a path for the next generation of development.

The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), as a key actor, sees AMCEN-15 as an opportunity to contribute towards Africa’s sustainable development agenda.

PACJA has therefore organized a Pre-AMCEN Major Group and Stakeholders’ Forum to promote African governments and the civil society to work together, exchange experiences and strategies in order to carry the voice of African peoples forward.


“The selection of the 15th AMCEN Session’s theme resonates with this year’s spirit, where two most important global agreements which will determine the future resource governance, will be concluded,” said Mithika Mwenda of PACJA. “AMCEN has been a central player in these two processes, and as civil society, we will continue playing our role within the limits of the space we have been accorded”.

On the road to Paris, the Pre-AMCEN forum is framing the narrative of green economy in the context of sustainable development, poverty eradication and ensuring African issues are reflected in Post 2015 Agenda/consultations.
African CSOs expect the Conference to define a concrete blueprint that will guide the continent to discussions on the SDGs.

“We want to crystallize a strong position when it comes to climate change and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); we want to link environment with economy; we want to work on poverty eradication and job creation for our young population,” said Dr. Khaled Mohamed Fahmy Abdel Aal, Egyptian Minister of Environment.

Stakeholders have expressed concerns that Africa is now more than ever before experiencing adverse consequences of climate change.

“Annual temperature is consistently increasing; we need to keep temperature lower than two degrees. For adaptation only we need between $7-15billion. If the trend continues, by 2050 we will need $100billion,” observed Mounkaila Goumandakoye, Director and Regional Representative, UNEP-ROA.


AMCEN is a permanent forum where African ministers of the environment discuss matters of relevance to the environment of the continent.

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