Natural Capital, SDGs and COP21 discussed at the 15th session of the African Ministerial Conference on Environment, 2-6 March 2015, Cairo, Egypt

The 15th Regular Session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) took place from 2 to 6 March in its birth place Cairo, 30 years after its inception conference in 1985.

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This key regional forum for dialogue on environment and climate change, was attended by Ministers responsible for the Environment from 54 African nations and over 300 participants from around the continent representing policy makers, experts, civil society, businesses and major groups. Also attending the meeting were partner organizations, UN agencies and representatives from the donor community, including the European Commission.

After Tanzania, Egypt is taking over the presidency of AMCEN for a period of two years, while UNEP acts as the Secretariat of the AMCEN.

The meeting came at a crucial moment as the coming months will determine how Africa’s development and climate change priorities are articulated and reflected in the context of global negotiations, including the COP21 and the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

Main outcomes of AMCEN include a declaration, the Cairo Declaration as well as following decisions:

-Sustainable harnessing of Africa’s Natural Capital in the context of Vision 2063: Decision 1 Natural Capital

-African Common Strategy on Combatting illegal trade in wild fauna and flora:Decision 2 Wildlife

-AU guidelines  for coordinated implementation of Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing: Decision 3 ABS Guidelines

-Strengthening African leadership in the UN Convention to Combat Desertification: Decision 4 Strengthening African leadership

-Climate change and Africa’s preparations for the 2015 agreement under UNFCCC.Decision 5 Climate Change Strategy

-Report on UNEA, UNEP and AMCEN activities:Decision 6 UNEA -AMCEN

-African Environment Outlook and Africa Environmental Information Network:Decision 7 AEO-AEIN

-Intended nationally determined contributions:Decision 8 INDC

The European Commission was represented through DG Environment and the EU Delegation to the AU in Addis, as well as the EU Delegation in Cairo, and participated both in the technical meetings and part of the ministerial segment.

H.E. Moran, EU Delegation to Cairo provided an opening speech to the AMCEN pre-session on “Inclusive green economies for poverty eradication and sustainable development: from inspiration to action” together with Dr. Khaled Fahmy, Minister of the Environment of Egypt and Dr. Goumandakoye, UNEP Regional Director.

Mr Timo Mäkelä, Director International Affairs, LIFE & Eco-innovation, DG Environment, European Commission delivered a speech at the opening ceremony, on behalf of the Commissioner for Environment and he participated in a high level panel on at the opportunity of the release of the synthesis report on “Building Inclusive green Economies in Africa” with Mr. Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), H.E. Dr. Khaled Fahmy, Minister of Environment, Egypt, H.E. Ms Bomo Edna Molewa, Minister of Environmental Affairs, South Africa, H.E. Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, Minister of Water and Environment, Uganda, and Dr. Anthony Okon Nyong, Division Manager, Environment and Social Protection, African Development.

The African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) was created in 1985 by African ministers of environment to promote regional cooperation to address environmental issues confronting the region. AMCEN is a sub-committee under the Specialized Technical Committee of the African Union and is mandated to facilitate the implementation of Rio+20 outcomes in Africa. It serves as a platform for decision-making and consensus-building, and identifies common positions for Africa in international negotiations. AMCEN also facilitates coherence in decision-making processes, incorporates key global environmental issues into the regional environmental agenda, and ensures that regional environmental priorities are addressed in international environmental negotiations. UNEP provides secretariat to AMCEN.