Regional Office for Africa Newsletter, December 2006 ~ United Nations Environment Programme

8/9/2019 Regional Office for Africa Newsletter, December 2006 ~ United Nations Environment Programme

1/20

ROA NEWS ISSUE NO. 10 1

ROA NewsROA NewsUNEP ROA News is a Newsletter o the Regional Ofce or Arica (ROA) at UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya

No 10 December 2006

Mrs. Monique Barbut (GEF); Minister Van Schalkwyk of South Africa; andMr. Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP plan to help Africa adaptto climate change.

COP12 UNFCCC/MOP2 KyOtO PrOtOCOl:Chaenges and Oppouniies fo Afica

For the rst time since the commencement o the United Na-tions Convention on climate Change (UNFCCC) process,some 12 years ago, the world converged sub-Saharan Arica in

Nairobi, Kenya, or the twelve conerence on climate change

(COP12). This is remarkable not only because climate change is a

global agenda is but also due to the act that this region is project-

ed to suer most rom the impacts o climate change. Some haveondly named it the Arica COP. As might have been expected

Adaptation, a major Arica concern, dominated the discussions

at many orums - rom plenary to the side events. This COP saw

the advent o the deliberations on the long term uture commit-

ments by Parties ater 2012, when the rst commitment period

comes to an end.

A plan to help Arica fght global warming was launched by the UN Secretary-General Kof Annan at the climate talks in Nairobi. The plancalled the Nairobi Framework is meant to help developing nations, especially in Arica, get more unds to promote clean energies such as

wind and hydropower. Annan also announced the launch by the UNs environment and development agencies o a scheme to help poor nationsactor climate change into development plans. The partnership between the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Environment

Programme (UNEP) to help Arica adapt to climate change is a response to a request by leaders rom developing countries, particularly those insub-Saharan Arica, or assistance in coping with the climate change threat. It is part o a new global initiative to help secure a greater share othe international carbon fnance market or the worlds poorest countries. The 12 day conerence concluded with the adoption o a wide range

decisions designed to mitigate climate change and help countries adapt to eects o climate change.

The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) the scientic

body or the UNFCCC, has long since concluded the act that

Arica is the most vulnerable region to climate change and has

least ability to adapt. Yet Arica generates barely 3% o the total

C O N t E N t S

COP12 UNFCC/MOP2 Kyoto Protocol: Challenges and Opportunities for Africa 1

African Ministers Common vision on Adaptation, Clean Development

Mechanism Technology Transfer and Capacity Building 3

Eighth Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention in Nairobi: UNEPscall for the Clean-up and Rehabilitation of Contaminated sites in Cte dIvoire 5

The African Ministerial Conference on the Environment towards the Effective

Implementation of the Africa Environmental Agenda 8

Brazzaville Declaration on the Environment for Development 9

China-Africa Cooperation: Central Africa gets a Disaster Risk Reduction Centre 10

The African 10-Year Framework Programme on Sustainable Consumption andProduction Launched at High-Level 16

The Fourth African Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production(ARSCP-4) 18

Clean Up the World 2006 19

Hon. Minister Kivutha Kibwana (Kenya), His Excellency Mr. Marthinus VanSchalkwyk (South Africa) and Mr. Sekou Toure, UNEP.


2/20

2 ROA NEWS ISSUE NO. 10

C O P 1 2 U N F C C C

green house gas emissions (GHGs). But more importantly despite

the commitments by the developed countries to reduce GHGs by

about 5% rom the 1990 levels by 2012, report rom 2005 an in-

crease in the level. These unabated increases in GHGs spell doom

or Aricas sustainable development as the costs or adaptation

escalate. The issue will continue to raise temperatures as AnnexI Parties keep calling or developing countries to take emission

reduction commitments while the Non-Annex I Parties highlight

that Annex I Parties are yet to meet their initial commitments.

In addition developing countries will need to be empowered in

order to reduce emissions since the bulk o their emissions are as-

sociated with the urgent need to develop and thus taking on emis-

sions cuts post2012 would threaten the ght against poverty.

Over the last ew years provision o support to developing coun-

tries or adaptation and in particular LDCs, majority o which are

Arican, has drugged on. In Nairobi the Parties were at it again

with the major ocus being the 5 year programme o work onadaptation, and the principles, modalities and governance o the

adaptation und. The meeting agreed that implementation o

activities contained in the initial two years o work programme

should start in developing countries targeting LDCs and SIDs.

Overall Arica was disappointed that the budget available or

these biennium cannot ully cover the activities and that most o

the activities are mainly research orientated rather than practical

adaptation measures.

It is expected that support or implementation or the adaptation

measures will emanate rom the Adaptation Fund. The proceeds or

this und originate rom 2% o resources generated through emis-

sions reductions under CDM projects and voluntary contributions.

It is projected that during the 1 st commitment period the amount

available rom CDM projects amount to about 345million Euro, a

partly sum compared to what is needed ro adaptation. The COP12

did make substantive progress on the principles and modalities

which culminated to a decision being adopted. The pending issue

relates to the institutional arrangements to operationalise the und

and it is expected that this will be resolved at COP13.

Lamentations rom Arica on the skewed distribution o CDM

projects with Arica only having about 1.7% o the total share

seem to have nally ound answer. The EC announced an initial

transer o Euro80 million under the Global Energy eciency and

Renewable Energy Fund or CDM projects in developing coun-

tries with particular ocus on Arica. The Secretary General an-

nounced a major new UN capacity building initiative, The Nai-

robi Framework on Capacity Building targeting the same issue,

CDM. In addition the UNDP and UNEP announce a partnership

initiative on adaptation and the CDM which while targeting de-

veloping countries in general will pay special attention to Arica.

The extent to which reducing deorestation in developing coun-tries can be a measure or mitigating climate change has been on

the table or the last ew COPs. It is indeed an issue o particular

importance to Arica since deorestation is increasing is some o

the major countries. Some o the Parties at the COP12 propose

ocusing on discussing policy incentives and approaches to pre-

vent deorestation. While others actored inclusion o techno-

logical and methodological issues. Towards this the Congo Basin

Initiative countries have highlighted that deorestation is largely

linked to poverty and hence it is imperative that policy incentives

target provision o alternative economic opportunities. COP12

did not resolve the deorestation concerns and hence a ollow-up

workshop was proposed. This leaves room or Arica to better ar-ticulate its arguments and ensure avourable decisions.

Mr. Sekou Toure and Ms. Monique Barbut at the African Group Meetingduring UNFCCC - COP-12

As part o the contributions to guide the Ad Hoc working Group

which aims to map the uture climate change rameworks, Sir

Nicholas Stern presented his recent report on the Economics o

Climate Change. Notably the report emphasises that Arica is the

most vulnerable to climate and notes that crop yields will decline,

particularly in Arica. It calls or urgent action. It notes that thepoorest countries are threatened with looses greater than 10% o

their economic output should the temperatures rise by ve de-

grees Celsius. To stabilize at manageable levels, emissions would

need to stabilize in the next 20 years and all between 1% and

3% ater that and this would cost 1% o GDP. In view o these

pronouncements and the other major compelling arguments or

immediate action and the dire consequences or Arica, the Ari-

can Union has embarked on a concerted eort to help raise the

climate change agenda to a higher prole, both within the Arican

leadership and globally. It is hence developing a position to be

adopted by the AU assembly in January 2007 and as a basis or

discussions at the upcoming G8 and G8+5 meetings where Aricaand climate change are part o the agenda. p

By Njeri Wamukonya

It is imperative for African countries to effectively address the challengesposed by climate change


3/20

ROA NEWS ISSUE NO. 10

A M C E N

Afican Minises Common vision on Adapaion,Cean Deveopmen Mechanism technoog tansfe

and Capaci Buiding

1. The Arican Group wishes to arm that the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change and its related

Kyoto Protocol constitute a vital mechanism to meet the

Millennium Development Goals on poverty and environ-

mental sustainability or Arican countries. As the World

Summit ahs recognized, the Convention and its Protocol

serve as invaluable instruments or the widest possible co-

operation and participation in an eective and appropriate

international response to global climate change.

2. It is imperative that the Arican countries to eectively ad-dress the challenges posed by the adverse impacts o climate

change and climate variability on their national develop-

ment eorts, there is an urgent need or enhanced human,

institutional and systematic capacity building initiatives as

well as the provision o adequate and predictable nancial

and technical assistance to assist our respective countries to

eectively implement adaptation and mitigation projects

consistent with national sustainable development priorities.

3. While noting the process that has been made in the imple-

mentation o the Convention and its related protocol, A-

rica strongly arms the need or UNFCCC and they KyotoProtocol to ocus their energies upon development and or

implementation o adaptation programmes.

4. The Group recognizes that progress has been made in this

session to reach agreement on the principles, modalities and

voting pattern or the Adaptation Fund. We strongly sup-

port the principle that the adaptation Fund should operate

under the authority and guidance o and be accountable to

the Conerence o the Parties serving as the Meeting o Par-

ties to the Protocol and that the governance o the Fund will

be based on one country one vote.

5. We wish to emphasize that operationalising the Adaptation

Fund is a key priority or Arica. With regard to manage-

ment o the Fund, Arica supports the structure that guar-

antees easy access t the Funds. Hence Arica will support

an organization/agency having minimal bureaucratic pro-

cedures and or is willing to put in place user riendly proce-

dures to manage the Adaptation Fund.

6. We rearm that access to unding continues to be a major

problem or Arican countries given the regions limited ca-

pacity to meet the conditionalities o the nancial institu-

tions. We recognize the achievement o this session coming

up with decision on Special Climate Change Fund and the

Least Developing Countries Fund. We urgently call or the

operationalisation o these unds. It is our expectation that

these will provide improved and predictable fow o nan-

cial resources to our region or the implementation o the

Convention and its Protocol.

7. Arican is seriously concerned about the new Resource Al-

location Framework (RAF) o GEF. This should be revised

taking into account vulnerability index in the resource al-location ramework ormula. Furthermore, the decision

making process o GEF as well as GEF assistance to Arica

should be revised as a mater o urgency. It is imperative

that our view should take into consideration in the review

o RAF in 2008.

8. We have noted with concern that Aricas share o Clean De-

velopment Mechanism (CDM) projects is quite marginal.

There are about 15 CDM projects under consideration in

Sub-Saharan Arica accounting or only 1.7% o the total

number o projects world-wide. We noted that the ollow-

ing are some o the causes or the lack o CDM projects in

Arica: Lack o enabling XDM investment environments;

inadequate access to commercial credit; low level o ossil

uel use resulting in ew opportunities to reduce emissions;

the rapidly closing CDM investment window or the pre-

2012 credits which makes projects rom other regions more

attractive to international investors.

9. In view o this grossly unequal geographical distribution

o CDM projects, we call or urgent measures to increase

Aricas share o CDM projects. In this regard we urge that

the rules o the CDM be reviewed, particularly those related

to the baseline or the non-renewable biomass fexibility in

the application o rules on a project by project basis.

African delegates discuss adapation.


4/20


A M C E N

10. We also call on International Financial Institutions and

donors to step up capacity-building eorts, using learn-

ing-by-doing approaches that bring Arican CDM projects

to market as they build necessary capacities in DesignatedNational Authorities, and relevant public and private sec-

tors.

11. We thereore recommend that a capacity building pro-

gramme should be developed at sub-regional and national

levels aimed at (1) ocusing on the development o actual

projects; (2) assisting the development o institutional ca-

pacity; and (3) involving the private sector in the process

o project development.

12. We welcome the establishment o a Carbon Fund men-

tioned by Mr. Kof Annan, Secretary General o the UnitedNations to assist Arican countries to participate CDM. We

thereore urge or more resources to be put in this Fund.

13. The Arican Group highly recommend that the principle

o avoided deorestation should be given serious consid-

eration as a mechanism to save Arican orests and at the

same time reduce emissions. We support the submission

by the Congo Basin countries to the COP/MOP reiterating

that activities aimed at reducing emissions rom deoresta-

tion take into ull account the need or Arica to achieves

sustained economic growth and eradicate poverty.

14. The Arican Group would like to put on record our disap-

pointment regarding deliberations on the issue o technol-

ogy transer at the session. Our concern with respect to

establishment o Technology Acquisition Fund; and Tech-

nology Development and Transer Board has been met

with Unparallel resistance. Yet, we are o the commonly

held view that technology is a critical component o ad-

dressing climate change, or both adaptation and mitiga-

tion i we are never thinking o achieving the Millennium

development Goals. The Arican Group thereore reiter-

ates the needs ort he multilateral unding and institution-

alization o technology transer mechanism to implement

technology transer programme o activities.

15. We will also like to express our concerns on the discussion

on addressing the impacts o implementation o response

measures and economic diversifcation in this session. We

observed with utter dismay the unwillingness o the Annex

I Parties to undertake discussion o these very important

issues. We are calling or urgent consideration o these is-

sues in the next SBI session and the need to recommendconcrete actions to address the possible impacts o imple-

mentation o response measures on Arican economic in

the various sectors.

16. Capacity building is a top priority or Arican countries. We

have taken note that capacity building activities have been

consolidated into an overall ramework in Marrakech, Mo-

rocco. Capacity building should be a stand alone agenda

item. Concerted eorts should be made towards monitor-

ing the implementation o the capacity building ramework

within the context o the Convention and the Protocol. A-

rica has the least capacity to adapt to climate change ca-lamities due to its poverty and poor inrastructure. Hence

capacity building underpins the ability o Arica to be part

o this process.

17. We need urther programmes on education, training and

awareness to sensitize our citizenry and enhance capac-

ity or programme implementation based on the views o

Parties on the implementation o the Works programme.

We thereore call or objective review o New Delhi work-

programme which is ending by the 2007. We also call or

strengthening o the local points or Article 6.

18. With regard to the dialogue on long-term cooperative action

under the Convention, we envisage some concrete outcomes

on implementation o adaptation measures, establishment

o a multi-lateral Technology Acquisition Fund and policy

incentives relating to deorestation. We wish to signal that

such outcomes would contribute to reducing Aricas vul-

nerability to climate change and acilitate sustainable devel-

opment.

19. Arica believes that uture commitment must be based on

observable, concrete and substantial reduction o emissions

by Annex 1 country Parties. The Arican Group supports

the need or tougher emissions reduction commitments

beyond 2012 as this would be benefcial in reducing vulner-

ability and increasing opportunities or CDM projects. We

endorse the broad themes being considered by the IPCC

working group in this regard.

20. Arica believes that the continued degradation o our glob-

al environment demands or bold and urgent action by the

international community to reverse this trend or the ben-

eft o present and uture generation o human kind. It is

thereby incumbent on us in this session to take these hard

decisions to ensure the survival o human kind.

Executive Director, UNEP and African delegates.


5/20


B a s e l C o n v e n t i o n

Eighh Confeence of he Paies o he BaseConvenion in Naiobi: UNEPs ca fo he cean up

and ehabiiaion of conaminaed sies in Ce

dIvoieThe just ended Eighth Conerence o the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control o Transboundary Movements o Hazardous Wastes and

Their Disposal (Basel COP8) brought to the limelight the issue o illegal shipments o hazardous materials to vulnerable countries by unscrupulousoperators as a result o the Cte DIvoire case. Following initial emergency assistance, the country now have to use its own public unds to paya private company or the retrieval, shipment and processing o the toxic waste in France. Fresh inormation indicates that the fnal costs o thisoperation allied to the medium and long term rehabilitation o aected sites could approach $30 million, according to the Ivorian authorities.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Environment Programme(UNEP) Executive Director, on the eve o an international meeting o the Ba-sel Convention on the Control o Transboundary Movements o Hazardous Wastes and

their Disposal called or international nancial assistance to pay or the clean up and

rehabilitation o contaminated sites in Cte DIvoire.

Director of UNEP-DELC, Mr. Bakary Kante and Mrs. Saatou Ba-NDaw, Coordinator of CtedIvoires National Plan for Combating Harzadous Wastes.

Creaing innovaive

soluions hrough heBasel Convenion or heenvironmenally sound

managemen o elecronicwases

The Central theme o the Eighth

Conerence o the Parties to the Basel

Convention on the Control o Trans-

boundary Movements o Hazardous

Wastes and Their Disposal (Basel

COP8) was chosen as a result o the

massive growth in the internationaltrac o obsolete products like com-

puters, printers and other accessories,

television sets and mobile phones, was

intended to assist Parties to ocus on

the challenges increasingly aced by

Parties today in addressing large new

waste streams, while providing an op-

portunity to consider the application

o the undamental principles underly-

ing the Convention that is environ-

mentally sound management o wastes

and integrated lie-cycle approach.Irrespective o who will or who will not be held liable or this incident, it is the people o

one o the worlds poorest countries who have already paid dearly or this irresponsible

act o hazardous waste dumping, who are now being orced to actually pay the bill or

removal and clean up operationsAchim Steiner.

Among the most aected people are children and workers in the inormal sector. Other

costs involve the greater demand or health services and the need to destroy aected

livestock and ood. Our country was already under great nancial strain, and this illegal

dumping was the last thing we needed. But we are not here to point a nger o blame.

Our population is suering, and we are calling or solidarity rom the international com-

munity. We need assistance to help us address this disasterMs. Safatou Ba-NDaw, Co-

ordinator o Cte dIvoires National Plan or Combating Hazardous Wastes.


6/20



Inerview Mr. Sekou toure,Direcor UNEP Regional ofceor Arica

ROA News: The Toxic waste in Cote

dIvoire is now emerging as a major envi-

ronmental disaster in recent times in Ari-

ca. Your reaction to the disaster and what

has been the response o the international

community with particular reerence to

UNEP?

Sekou Toure: Let me start by saying

that we are saddened by this event and

I wish to take this opportunity to tell

the people and the Government o Cote

dIvoire that we share their gries. It is

unortunate and disheartening at thesame time that despite all the eort o

the international community in put-

ting in place preventive measures, such

tragic, criminal and rankly unaccept-

able incident has happened. There are a

ew instruments and mechanisms such

as the Basel Convention and the Interna-

tional Convention or the Prevention o

Pollution rom Ships, 1973, as modied

by the Protocol o 1978 relating thereto

(MARPOL 73/78), in respect o hazard-

ous wastes and other wastes that are in

place to control the movement o haz-

ardous waste. In the Arican context, the

Bamako Convention is also there to pre-

vent these types o things. As we all ob-

serve, despite these instruments, the in-

cident happened. What is really at stake

is the unscrupulous conduct o some o

the parties involved. Knowing ully well

that the developing countries do nothave the acility to handle such waste,

they resort to all sort o things to look

or the cheapest ways o disposing o the

wastes. Also, it all bug down to the issue

o enorcement o the instruments that

we collectively put in place. My sense i

that we need to learn rom this tragic in-

cident and reinorce the mechanisms to

scrupulously control the transboundary

movement o the hazardous wastes.

ROA News:How do you see this issue hav-

ing an impact on the orthcoming COP- 8

o the on Basel Convention on the Control

o Transboundary Movements o Hazard-

ous Wastes and Their Disposal in terms o

liability and compensations?

Sekou Toure: The Executive Secretary o

the Convention is certainly working hard

on this issue has she has been in contact

with the authorities and I would expect

that this issue will be raised during the

COP.

I have all condence that parties will

be looking or ways o supporting Cote

dIvoire and to also addressing this issue

to ensure that in the uture we are betterprepared and that the instruments and

mechanisms o control are revisited and

made more stringent. There is no doubt

in my mind that the Parties will look into

the issue o liability and compensation,

although, as o today, the Protocol o the

Convention on Liability and compensa-

tion is still yet to enter into orce. I also

eel that, the Parties will benet rom

agreeing on a set o specic measures to

assist developing countries such as Cote

dIvoire to be equipped with the neces-

sary institutional and technical capacity

at national and regional levels.

Basel Convenion o elaborae

sraegy or prevening repea

o Abidjan hazardous wasedisaser

The member governments o the Basel

Convention on the Control o Trans-

boundary Movements o Hazardous

Wastes and their Disposal have agreed

to accelerate eorts to reduce the risks

posed to human health and the environ-

ment by the dramatic worldwide growth

in electronic wastes.

Priorities will include launching pilot

projects to establish take-back systems

or used electronic products, strengthen-

ing global collaboration on ghting ille-

gal trackers and promoting best prac-

tices through new technical guidelines.

Ministers and heads o delegations also

issued a declaration calling or urgent

action to address the illegal trade in e-

wastes. They recognized the need to

The Probo Koala carried about 528 tonnes of toxic wastes in the night of 19 August 2006 toAbidjan. The emissions of poisonous fumes from the waste has left at least seven people dead whilesome 36,000 others suffered from various forms of infection.


7/20


improve their national policies, con-

trols and enorcement eorts, and they

urged industry to pursue green design

by phasing out the need or hazardous

components and managing the entire

lie cycle o its products.

The conerence also eatured an in-depth

debate during a one-day World Forum

on E-Wastes. Ministers, corporate o-

cers, civil-society representatives and

other participants explored solutions or

advancing the collection, separation, re-

use, reurbishment and recycling o ob-

solete electronic products.

Some 20 to 50 million metric tones o e-

waste which includes lead, cadmium,mercury and other hazardous substances

are generated worldwide every year as

a result o the growing demand or com-

puters, mobile phones, TVs, radios and

other consumer electronics.

The Nairobi conerence has also con-

demned the dumping last August o haz-

ardous wastes in Abidjan, Cte dIvoire,

which resulted in deaths, injuries and

massive clean-up costs. It agreed to es-

tablish a strategic plan or strengthening

the international communitys capacity

or staging a rapid and eective emer-

gency response to such crises. It urther

called upon governments to oer tech-

nical and nancial assistance to enable

Cte dIvoire to implement its national

emergency plan.

The meeting also agreed on the need orbetter coordination between the Inter-

national Maritime Organizations MAR-

POL Convention on the treatment o

wastes resulting rom the normal opera-

tions o ships, and the Basel Convention

on the transport o waste cargoes.

Other decisions included the adoption

o three new sets o guidelines or the

environmentally sound management

o certain persistent organic pollutants

(POPs). Many o these pollutants are

among the most hazardous substances

known to humanity. Guidelines on

POPs wastes and on PCBs were nalized

in 2004. The new guidelines ocus spe-

cically on DDT, on other obsolete pes-

ticides, and on dioxins and urans.

For more inormation, see www.basel.

int . Data on hazardous wastes are avail-

able at www.vitalgraphics.net and www.

grida.no. p

Governments need to develop eective regulatory regimes that empower the

market to respond positively to the challenge o e-wastes. By partnering with

the private sector and with civil society, they can promote collection chains that

channel obsolete goods back to their original manuacturers or recovery and

recycling.

Executive Director Achim Steiner o the United Nations Environment Programme

(UNEP), under whose auspices the Basel Convention was adopted.


Mrs. Kuwabara-Yamamoto, Executive Secretary of the Basel Convention: One of the importantlessons is that we have a serious problem with enforcement.

Some 20 to 50 million metric tonnes of e-waste are generated worldwide every year.


8/20


the Afica Miniseia Confeence on heEnvionmen owads he Effecive impemenaion

of he Afica Envionmena Agenda

The eleventh session o the Arican Ministerial Conerence on the Environment (AMCEN) was held in Brazzaville rom 22 to 26 May 2006. It wasattended by ministers rom AMCEN member States and representatives o Arican regional and sub regional organizations, United Nations agen-cies, secretariats o various environmental conventions and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. On assuming the presidency,

Mr. Henri Djombo, Minister o Forest Economy and the Environment o the Republic o Congo emphasized the need or collaboration amongAMCEN members in order to meet the environmental challenges acing Arica, particularly with regard to fnancing environmental activities.

o AMCEN or the purpose o mobilising

the necessary resources to accelerate the

implementation o the Plan.

It was in the context o the discussion atthe partners conerences that the idea o

the AEF was mooted. In October 2004 in

Dakar, the Arican Ministerial Conerence

on the Environment (AMCEN) proposed

the creation o the Arican Environment

Facility (AEF) and requested it to be host-

ed within the Arican development Bank

(ADB). Solicited by the AMCEN, H.E.

President Wade o Senegal, who is respon-

sible or the environment initiative in the

heads o State Implementation Commit-tee o NEPAD, took the necessary steps to

initiate a discussion between AMCEN and

the President o ADB.

The chairman o AMCEN held a number o

consultations with the Arican development

bank, including a meeting with the Presi-

dent. Agreement was reached to conduct a

easibility study which has now been com-

pleted and reviewed by the 11th regular Ses-

sion o AMCEN held in Brazzaville in May2005. Discussions are under way to continue

the process o establishing the AEF. p

An Inerview wih he DirecorUNEP Regional Ofce or Arica

ROA News: At the Brazzaville session,

Arican Ministers have taken a movetowards the eective implementation

o the Action Plan or the Environment

Initiative o the NEPAD: how do you see

this happening and how can UNEP a-

cilitate this?

Sekou Toure: The eective implementa-

tion o the Action Plan or the Environ-

ment Initiative needs to happen at several

levels:

1 At country level, it is crucial that na-

tional Governments who made it pos-

sible or the Action Plan to become a re-

ality have to genuinely engage themselves

more. There are very many ideas one can

think o. For example one suggestion

coming rom AMCEN itsel was or each

country to select their NEPAD projects

and ully implement them, relying pri-

marily on domestic resources. Ultimately,

it is or the Arican countries themselvesto show leadership here.

2 At subregional and regional level.

Here, the subregional economic com-

munities and other regional institutions

should come in and mobilize the neces-

sary resources or the implementation o

regional projects.

3 I still believe that eort should also be

made by AMCEN to work very closely withthe Arican development bank to establish

the Arican Environment Facility with the

purpose o enhancing nancial resources

mobilization or the Action Plan.

4 The UN and other partners, particu-

larly development banks should take theimplementation process very seriously and

imbed priorities identied by the Action

Plan in their own programme o work.

ROA News: During the Ministerial

dialogue, the issue o the Arica

Environment Facility was also discussed

what progress has been made towards

operationalising it?

Sekou Toure: Allow me to remind ourreaders that the period ollowing the

launch o NEPAD in 1991 saw extensive

consultations among and between vari-

ous interest groups in and outside A-

rica to provide the much needed push to

a continent in need o special direction

and ocus. It was in this context that the

Arican Ministerial Conerence on the

Environment (AMCEN), in collabora-

tion with the Arican Union, the NEPAD

Secretariat and other partners such as theUnited Nations Environment Programme

(UNEP) and the Global Environment Fa-

cility (GEF) initiated a process to urther

elaborate the environment Initiative o

NEPAD into a ull Action Plan. This was

done and the Action Plan was adopted by

a special session o AMCEN held in Ma-

puto in June 2003. It was later endorsed

by Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.10 (II).o

the Second Assembly o the Arican Union

held in Maputo in July 2003 in which theHeads o State called or the organisation

o Partners Conerences under the aegis

A M C E N


9/20


A M C E N

Bazzavie Decaaion on he Envionmen foDeveopmen

We, Arican Ministers o Environment,

Having metin Brazzaville on 25 and 26

May 2006, at the eleventh session o the


Environment,

Noting with satisaction the contribution

o the Arican Ministerial Conerence

on the Environment in providing politi-

cal guidance and leadership or environ-

mental advocacy in Arica,

Recalling the outcome o recent major

United Nations conerences and summit

meetings, in particular the United Na-

tions Millennium Declaration o Sep-

tember 2000, in which the international

community recognized the special chal-

lenges acing Arica and made a com-

mitment to support Arica in achieving

sustainable development,

Concerned about the increasing num-

ber o environmental threats acing A-rica and the continents vulnerability to

global environmental change, which in

turn compromise the eorts o the con-

tinent to promote sustainable develop-

ment and achieve the Millennium De-

velopment Goals, in particular the goals

on extreme poverty and hunger,

Recallingthe commitments made at the

two Partners Conerences on the envi-

ronment initiative o the New Partner-

ship or Aricas Development held inAlgiers, in December 2003, and in Da-

kar, in March 2005,

Noting with satisaction the progress

made in the early stages o the imple-

mentation o the action plan or the

environment initiative o the New Part-

nership or Aricas Development,

Recognizing the weak capacities o A-

rican States to implement the pro-

grammes and projects identied in the

action plan or the environment initia-

tive o the New Partnership or Aricas

Development,

Notingalso the progress made in the im-

plementation o the coastal and marine

component o the action plan or the en-

vironment initiative o the New Partner-

ship or Aricas Development within the

ramework o the Abidjan Convention or

Cooperation in the Protection and Devel-

opment o the Marine and Coastal Envi-

ronment o the West and Central Arican

Region and the Nairobi Convention or

the Protection, Management and Devel-

opment o the Marine and Coastal Envi-

ronment o the Eastern Arican Region,

Noting urther the progress made in the

development and early stages o imple-

mentation o the TerrArica initiative since

its launch in Nairobi in October 2005, in-

cluding the preparation o the Strategic

Investment Programme or Sustainable

Land Management o the Global Environ-

ment Facility,

Emphasizingthe importance and relevance

o the TerrArica initiative as a means to

broaden sustainable land management

projects in sub-Saharan Arica and thereby

support the implementation o the Com-

prehensive Arica Agricultural Develop-

ment Programme o the New Partnership

or Aricas Development,

Recallingchapter 3 o Agenda 21, as ad-

opted at the United Nations Conerenceon Environment and Development, held

in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, which calls or

the engagement and participation o ma-

jor groups in the intergovernmental pro-

cesses considering sustainable develop-

ment issues,

Recallingalso the preamble to the Arican

Union Constitutive Act, in which mem-

ber States made a commitment to build

partnerships between Governments and

all segments o civil society, in particular

women, young people and the private sec-

tor, in order to strengthen solidarity and

cohesion among peoples,

Notingthe adverse eect o conficts on

the environment and the need or peace

and security in Arica, as the basis or

stability, sound environmental manage-

ment and sustainable development,

Recognizingthe urgent need to strength-

en the capacity o Arican countries to

cope with the adverse eects o environ-

mental change and to manage emergen-cies and disasters,

Recognizing also the roles o regional, sub

regional and national bodies, interna-

tional organizations, non-governmental

organizations, the private sector and -

nancial development institutions in the

implementation o the action plan or

the environment initiative o the New

Partnership or Aricas Development,

Emphasizingthat policy, legal and insti-tutional rameworks at all levels are es-

sential or achieving sustainable devel-

opment,

Noting also the role played by the Global

Environment Facility in unding the

implementation o environmental pro-

grammes and projects,

Noting with concern the changes made

to the Global Environment Facility in

respect o its ourth replenishment, inparticular the decision o the Council

o the Global Environment Facility to

adopt the resource allocation rame-

work, and gravely concerned that the

resource allocation ramework will limit

the resources available to Arica,

Welcomingthe oer o the Government

o South Arica to host the third meeting

o the Assembly o the Global Environ-

ment Facility and associated meetings in

Cape Town rom 27 August to 1 Septem-

ber 2006,Contd. on page 14


10/20


S o u t h - S o u t h C o o p e r a t i o n

Consequences o disasters alwayshave severe eects on the survival,dignity and livelihoods o individuals and

communities, particularly the poor, as well

as on the environmental resources and the

hard-worn developmental gains. Disasters

set back progress already achieved in pur-

suit o sustainable development, including

progress made towards poverty allevia-

tion.

Most countries in the Arican region have

national mechanisms to coordinate disas-

ter response whenever necessary. However,

in most cases these mechanisms ocus on

saving lives and reducing peoples suer-

ing caused by disasters, but do not address

the underlying causes and risks associated

with the disasters. Disaster prevention,

early warning, preparedness, risk reduc-

tion and post-disaster rehabilitation andrecovery are oten not integral compo-

nents o response planning systems. These

components o disaster management

require collective eorts and combined

AMCEN welcoming the Central Africa Disaster Risk Reduction Centre: The Centre will fostercollaboration and coordination of disaster management.

knowledge rom dierent countries and

stakeholders engaged both in develop-

ment and humanitarian issues at national

and regional levels.

The Central Arica region remains prone

and is vulnerable to a wide-range o natu-

ral and technological disasters. Confict or

civil disorder has also immensely contrib-

uted to vulnerability o the people. There

is an urgent need or a ocused mechanism

and acility to coordinate action at bothnational and sub regional level not only to

respond to disasters but also to build di-

saster management capacities and culture

o prevention and resilience o the coun-

tries and communities.

UNEP suppor

Responding to the need o the sub region

and with nancial assistance rom the

Government o the Peoples Republic oChina, UNEP in cooperation with other

partners and stakeholders initiated a Cen-

tral Africa Disaster Risk Reduction Cen-

tre in Brazzaville, Congo.

A consultation meeting was organized

on 21 May 2006 as a pre session or the

AMCEN meeting in Brazzaville to discuss

objectives and terms o reerence or the

Centre as well as the work plan and the

way orward regarding the Centre need oxxx

China-Afica Coopeaion: Cena Afic

The Center was inaugurated at the A

By Mohamed


11/20


Ges a Disase risk reducion Cene

N Session in Brazzaville, Congo

del-Monem


human capacities and technical support.

The meeting was attended by 22 partici-

pants rom the countries o Central A-

rica Sub-region. Director o the Regional

Oce or Arica o UNEP in his opening

remarks highlighted the need o establish-

ment o a ocused mechanism and acility

that enhance capacity building and deliver

coherent and consistent support to all the

countries in the region in view o their na-tional priorities in the context o disaster

management. The representative rom the

Arican Union (AU) gave presentation on

the program o action or the implemen-

tation o the Arican Regional Strategy on

Disaster Risk Reductions, emphasising the

importance o coordination between the

new sub-regional centre and the regional

centre that was agreed upon in the recent

AU Summate in Addis Ababa. Participants

deliberated on the risks are particularlyhigh in the countries aected by foods,

drought and volcanic eruptions as well as

confict or civil disorder whose popula-

tions are most vulnerable. Also

Inauguraion o he CenralArica Disaser Risk ReducionCenre

Inaugural ceremony o the Centre was at-

tended by the Minister o Environmentin Congo, The President o AMCEN, Vic-

Minister o Environment o China, several

Arican Ministers o Environment, OIC

Executive Director o UNEP, and Director

o the Division o Regional Cooperation o

UNEP. Minister o Environment in Congo

noted that objectives o the Centre are to:

1) Promote political commitment to di-

saster management; 2) Encourage iden-

tication as assessment o disaster risks;

3) Foster collaboration and coordination

China - Arica Cooperaion on Environmen

The China-Arica Co-operation Forum was established in 2000 with the rame-

work o collective dialogue between China and Arican countries to promote

peace and development on the basis o equality.

The Government o China and UNEP seek to achieve a strategic ramework ocooperation between both parties or implementation o the action plan o the

environment initiative o the New Partnership or Aricas Development.

High level political dialogue was initiated between the Arican Ministerial Con-

erence on the environment (AMCEN) and China on relevant issues related to

environment.

The China-Arica Conerence on Environmental Cooperation was held in Feb-

ruary 2004 on the margin o the UNEP GC and the issue o capacity buildingand technology support was considered one o the most urgent areas tobe given immediate attention in the context o the implementation o theenvironment initiative o NEPAD as well as the Bali Strategic Plan on Technol-

ogy Support and Capacity Building.

In this ramework, three training courses were organized in September 2005

January 2006 and September 2006 or 80 Arican experts supported by China

or Arican countries in the area o environmental management with a ocus on

sustainable use o water resources and management o wastewater, in line with

the priorities o AMCEN and key issues highlighted as priority areas in need o

support or capacity building in Arica.

Other proposals related to building the Arican capacity in areas o urban envi-

ronment, water, land degradation and renewable energy would be developed in

partnership between Arican countries and UNEP and shared with SEPA, theState Environment Agency in China, and other relevant Chinese authorities

or consideration. Detailed program o cooperation or capacity buildingor 2007 is being discussed.


12/20


o disaster management; 4) Strengthen

national and regional capacities on di-

saster management including education

and training; 5) Promote public aware-

ness through enhancement o knowledge

management including access to and ex-

change o technical inormation; 6) Sup-

port integration o disaster risk reduction

in emergency response management in-

cluding the environmental dimensions; 7)

Advance improvement o the quality and

eectiveness o donor/client interace in

disaster management. The Center will o-

cus on the areas o disaster risk reduction

and management, development o appro-

priate techniques, and capacity building

and inormation exchange. p


Inaugural ceremony of the Centre: Promoting political commitment to disaster management.

Arica Environmen Oulook or Youh Launched a he Arican MiniserialConerence on he Environmen

Our Region Our Lie: thefrs youh version o he

Arica Environmen OulookreporThe First report chronicling the state

o Aricas environment entirely dedi-

cated to youth on the continent -AEO-

or-Youth: Our Region- Our lie, was

launched at the 11the session o the


Environment (AMCEN) in Brazzaville.

This report is the youth version o the

First Arica Environment Outlook Re-

port. It is the result o a two- year pro-

cess in which more that 3000 Arican

Youth rom 41 dierent countries par-

ticipated. The contributions cover di-

erent genres: poems, articles, proverbs,

drawing and paintings.

This AEO-or-Youth publication was

commissioned by AMCEN and pro-

duced by the United Nations Envi-

ronment Programmes Division o

Early Warning and Assessment. It has

re-packaged the AEO report in a youth-

riendly manner and was authored and

illustrated by youth. This young people

are members o an AEO-or-Youth net-

work rom all over Arica. They submit-

ted contributions that included articles,case studies, poems, photos, paintings,

illustrations, quotes and proverbs.

The voice o youth is an invaluable asset to

environmental processes. In capturing this

voice, this publication oers young people

a roadmap or Aricas environmental

journey towards sustainable development.

Given their demographic dominance and

creativity, Aricas youth are key stakehold-

ers. The Environmental renaissance un-

derscored in the Arica Environment Out-

look process will become even stronger

through a systematic youth involvement.

The report is also the product o Arican

youth who have joined their hands and

spoken out in one voice. This voice

captures youth perspectives on the

state o the environment and shares

youth prescriptions on environmental

sustainability. It is believed that such

unique perspectives would prompt ac-

tion, not only rom policy makers but

also among the youth themselves.

Arica Youh ses up aregional EnvironmenNework

It has become increasingly necessary to

provide youth initiatives in Arica with

a ormal structure. This is meant tol en-

hance youth ownership and ensure that

youth action becomes more systematic

and sustainable. The sustainability o

the network will be achieved through

the highly collaborative eorts o youth

themselves. The network is also meant

to provide the right inrastructure or

young people to participate in deci-

sion-making processes at all levels o

national environmental policy.

The Arica Youth Environment Net-

work was launched in Brazzaville, in

line with the UNEP Tunza strategy or

youth, with the view to ensuring inno-

vative, sustainable and strategic youthenvironmental action in all the ty-

our countries in Arica. p


13/20


E n v i r o n m e n t f o r D e v e l o p m e n t

Further welcomingthe oer by the Gov-

ernment o Kenya to host the twelth

session o the Conerence o the Parties

to the United Nations Framework Con-

vention on Climate Change and the sec-

ond Meeting o the Parties to the Kyoto

Protocol to that Convention, to be heldrom 6 to 17 November 2006, as well as

the eighth meeting o the Conerence o

the Parties to the Basel Convention on

the Control o Transboundary Move-

ments o Hazardous Wastes and Their

Disposal, to be held rom 27 November

to 1 December 2006,

Noting the need to adopt the revised

Constitution o the Arican Ministerial

Conerence on the Environment with a

view to linking the Conerence to the or-gans o the Arican Union,

Acknowledgingthe useulness o the sec-

ond Arica Environment Outlook report

as the second comprehensive report on

the state o Aricas environment and its

contribution to the understanding o

the benets to be derived rom the envi-

ronment in Arica,

Recalling the Durban Declaration on

Environmental Impact Assessment, ad-

opted by the Conerence in 1995, and

recognizing the role o the pan-Arican

Capacity Development and Linkages

or Environmental Assessment in Arica

network as a tool to increase the aware-

ness and capacity o Arican proession-

als with respect to environmental assess-

ment and management, as needed or

the implementation o the action plan

or the environment initiative o the

New Partnership or Aricas Develop-

ment,

Acknowledging the role o the Partner-

ship or Development o Environmental

Law and Institutions in Arica project in

promoting eorts to build the capacity

o selected Arican States in the develop-

ment and implementation o environ-

mental laws and institutions,

Welcomingthe launch o the United Na-

tions Decade on Education or Sustain-able Development,

Acknowledging with appreciation resolu-

tion 58/211 o the United Nations General

Assembly, which declared 2006 to be the

International Year o Deserts and Deserti-

cation,

Welcoming the adoption o the Strate-gic Approach to International Chemicals

Management by the International Con-

erence on Chemicals Management at its

rst session, held in Dubai, United Arab

Emirates, on 6 February 2006, and the

subsequent endorsement o the Approach

by the Governing Council o the United

Nations Environment Programme in its

decision SS.IX/1 o 9 February 2006,

Noting with appreciation the work o the

Government o South Arica, as presentedat the eleventh session o the Conerence,

regarding elephant management in south-

ern Arica,

Hereby declare our resolve:

1. To continue to implement ully the

action plan o the environment initia-

tive o the New Partnership or Aricas

Development, in particular its capacity

development programme, and to nal-

ize and adopt the sub regional action

plans;

2. To urge Governments to take necessary

action in support o the Abidjan and

Nairobi conventions as the ramework

or implementation o the marine and

coastal component o the environment

initiative o the New Partnership or

Aricas Development and invite them

to support the implementation o

projects on large marine ecosystems;

3. To promote the implementation o

the Bali Strategic Plan or Technol-

ogy Support and Capacity-building, in

particular the priority areas identied

by the Conerence, and rearm our

commitment to the promotion o the-

matic centres o excellence in support

o capacity-building in Arica;

4. To urge Governments to take neces-

sary action to ensure that the general

trust und o the Arican Ministerial

Conerence on the Environment is

replenished during the intersessional

period;

5. To request the President o the A-

rican Ministerial Conerence on the

Environment to ensure the establish-ment o the Arican Environment

Facility at the Arican Development

Bank;

6. To call on the Global Environment

Facility to continue to give high prior-

ity to Arican countries in allocating

nancial resources or the successul

implementation o the action plan o

the environment initiative o the New

Partnership or Aricas Development

and to urge Arican members o theCouncil o the Global Environment

Facility to advocate within the Coun-

cil support or the implementation

o the action plan at country and sub

regional levels;

7. To call on the Global Environment

Facility to continue to support at sig-

nicant levels the goals and eorts

expressed by Arican countries and

the New Partnership or Aricas De-

velopment in the context o the ac-tion plan or the environment initia-

tive and TerrArica;

8. To urge the Global Environment Fa-

cility to allocate resources in a trans-

parent and equitable manner, based

on the needs and priorities o coun-

tries and regions and to request the

Facility to streamline and simpliy its

procedures and review the system o

co-nancing, so as to create greater

opportunities or Arican countriesto access the resources o the Global

Environment Facility;

9. To request the Global Environment

Facility to review and reorm its cur-

rent governance system to provide

or greater transparency and equity

and increased representation, in or-

der to ensure the participation o all

Arican countries in its structures

and decision making processes, in

line with the goals o the New Part-nership or Aricas Development;


14/20


10. To request the Assembly o the Glob-

al Environment Facility to include

in the high-level segment o its third

meeting, to be held in Cape Town,

South Arica, a political debate on the

issues o equity, access to the resourc-

es o the Facility and the challengesand opportunities that the Facility

presents as a nancing mechanism to

support Arica;

11. To urge the Assembly o the Global

Environment Facility to create a

platorm during its third meeting to

enable Arica to showcase the prog-

ress and challenges experienced in

implementing the action plan or the

environment initiative o the New

Partnership or Aricas Develop-ment and to meet and work with the

secretariats o the Arican Ministerial

Conerence on the Environment and

the New Partnership or Aricas De-

velopment in this regard;

12. To urge development partners to

support Arica in meeting Millen-

nium Development Goal 7 on envi-

ronmental sustainability and, in par-

ticular, to provide adequate resources

to the special climate change und es-tablished under the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate

Change;

13. To call upon countries that have not

ratied the three conventions adopted

at the United Nations Conerence on

Environment and Development held

in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, namely, the

United Nations Convention on Bio-

logical Diversity, the United Nations

Convention to Combat Desertica-tion in Countries Experiencing Seri-

ous Drought and/or Desertication,

Particularly in Arica and the United

Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change and their related pro-

tocols, to do so, and to urge Aricas

development partners to assist and

support Arican countries in the im-

plementation o such conventions;

14. To commit ourselves to urther

strengthen implementation o theUnited Nations Convention to Com-

bat Desertication, thereby contrib-

uting to the implementation o the

United Nations Convention on Biolog-

ical Diversity and the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate

Change and ensuring the achievement

o relevant Millennium DevelopmentGoals;

15. To support the International Year o

Deserts and Desertication in Arica

2006 and to urge Governments and

civil society to promote and imple-

ment related activities, with the aim o

enhancing the implementation o the

United Nations Convention to Combat

Desertication;

16. To urge all Arican countries to takesteps to sign, ratiy and implement

the revised Arican Convention on

the Conservation o Nature and Natu-

ral Resources, adopted by the Arican

Union at its second summit, in Mapu-

to, on 11 July 2003;

17. To welcome the initiative o the United

Nations Environment Programme to

develop issue-based tools to acilitate

coherent implementation o the three

Rio conventions and other biodiver-sity-related conventions and to request

the Executive Director o the United

Nations Environment Programme to

complete the development o these

tools and mobilize the necessary re-

sources to ensure their implementa-

tion in all Arican countries;

18. To call on the President o the Arican

Ministerial Conerence on the Environ-

ment to sustain eorts to orge coopera-

tive links with the relevant structures othe Arican Union, with a view to har-

monizing institutional arrangements

and strengthening the relationship o

the Arican Ministerial Conerence on

the Environment with the United Na-

tions Environment Programme;

19. To call upon the President o the A-


Environment to orge and strengthen

linkages with other relevant ministe-

rial bodies, with a view to harmonizingpolicies and programmes;

20. To rearm our commitment to

make every eort to mainstream

environment into national develop-

ment agendas in Arica;

21. To encourage the sustainable use o

chemicals and commit ourselves tothe sound management o chemicals

and hazardous wastes, in order to

realize the goals o the Strategic Ap-

proach to International Chemicals

Management;

22. To encourage the use o the region-

al centres o the Basel Convention

on the Control o Transboundary

Movements o Hazardous Wastes

and Their Disposal as centres o ex-

cellence or capacity-building in theimplementation o multilateral en-

vironmental agreements relevant to

chemicals and hazardous wastes;

23. To commit ourselves to the issues

highlighted at the eleventh session

o the Conerence, namely: resource

mobilization or implementation o

the action plan or the environment

initiative o the New Partnership or

Aricas Development; regional and

multilateral environmental agree-ments in Arica; environmental law;

poverty and environment; environ-

ment and health; environmental as-

sessment; capacity-building; disaster

risk reduction; sustainable consump-

tion and production in Arica; the

implementation o the Strategic Ap-

proach to International Chemicals

Management in Arica; environmen-

tal assessment; post-confict envi-

ronmental assessment; health and

environment; disaster risk manage-ment; the Green Wall or the Sahara

initiative; and the Bali Strategic Plan

or Technology Support and Capac-

ity-building;

24. To request the Conerence o the

Parties to the Basel Convention at

its eighth meeting to endorse the es-

tablishment o a sustainable unding

stream or the implementation o the

Basel Convention in Arica;

25. To rearm our endorsement o the



15/20


Arica Environment Outlook process

as a monitoring and reporting tool

or sustainable environmental man-

agement and to provide a ramework

or national, sub regional and regional

integrated environmental assessment

and reporting and to note with ap-preciation the implementation o the

Arica Environment Inormation Net-

work at the national, sub regional and

regional levels to strengthen access to

reliable environmental data and inor-

mation in Arica;

26. To request Arican countries to use the

comprehensive national Landsat data

sets distributed by the United Nations

Environment Programme and to re-

quest the United Nations EnvironmentProgramme to support the eective

use o those data sets or environmen-

tal management;

27. To support the United Nations Decade

on Education or Sustainable Develop-

ment and to urge the United Nations

Educational, Scientic and Cultural

Organization and the United Nations

Environment Programme to work to-

gether to support Arican countries in

their eorts to achieve the goals o theDecade, aimed at contributing to the

promotion o sustainable livelihoods

and liestyles and environmental sus-

tainability;

28. To urge the Executive Director o the

United Nations Environment Pro-

gramme to ensure the expansion o

the Partnership or the Development

o Environmental Laws and Institu-

tions in Arica and its integration into

the regular programme o the UnitedNations Environment Programme on

environmental law;

29. To support the implementation o the

convergence plan o the Central Arica

Forests Commission on the sustainable

management, use and conservation o

orest ecosystems and biodiversity in

Central Arica;

30. To establish a coherent policy and pro-

gramme o support or small island

developing States in the light o the

Mauritius Strategy or the Further Im-

plementation o the Programme o Ac-

tion or the Sustainable Development

o Small Island Developing States, ad-

opted by the International Meeting to

Review the Implementation o the Pro-gramme o Action or the Sustainable

Development o Small Island Develop-

ing States, held in Port Louis, Mauri-

tius, in January 2005;

31. To continue to promote capacity-

building in the use o environmental

assessment in development activities

in Arica;

32. To invite Governments to engage in the

Global Programme o Action or theProtection o the Marine Environment

rom Land-based Activities, in particu-

lar by participating actively in its sec-

ond inter-governmental review, so that

the priorities o Arica are refected in

the implementation o the Programme

o Action;

33. To orm mutually advantageous part-

nerships with Arican environmental

non-governmental organizations and

initiatives in order to secure Aricasenvironmental sustainability within

a ramework o sustainable develop-

ment;

34. To encourage Arican countries to

participate ully in the twelth session

o the Conerence o the Parties to the

United Nations Framework Conven-

tion on Climate Change and the sec-

ond Meeting o the Parties to the Kyoto

Protocol, as well as in the eighth meet-

ing o the Conerence o the Parties tothe Basel Convention, with a view to

giving prominence to issues o impor-

tance to Arica;

35. To acknowledge our shared respon-

sibility or a sustainable approach to

elephant management that will protect

and enhance biodiversity and support

aected Arican countries;

36. To give eect to the decisions adopted

by the Arican Ministerial Conerence

on the Environment at its eleventh

session, held in Brazzaville, on 26

May 2006;

37. To mandate the President o the A-


Environment to submit the reporto the eleventh session o the Con-

erence, including the Brazzaville

Declaration and its other annexes, to

the Executive Council o the Arican

Union;

38. To pay tribute to the President o the

Congo and the Congolese people or

the warm welcome and the hospitali-

ty extended to participants, the excel-

lent acilities made available and the

generous support given by the Gov-ernment and people o the Congo to

the Arican Ministerial Conerence

on the Environment at its eleventh

session, which vastly contributed to

the success o the session. p



16/20


I n d u s t r y

the Afican 10-yea Famewok Pogamme onSusainabe Consumpion and Poducion launched

a High-eve

Desta Mebratu

The Arican 10-Year Framework

Programme (10-YFP) on Sustain-

able Consumption and Production

(SCP) was launched at High-level on 29

May 2006 in Addis Ababa, in the pres-

ence o His Excellency President Girma

Woldeghiorgis, President o the Federal

Democratic Republic o Ethiopia. This

very high prole event was jointly orga-

nized by the Arican Union, the United

Nations Economic Commission or A-

rica (UNECA) and the United NationsEnvironment Programme (UNEP) with

the view to:

Inorm the high-level representatives

o Arican countries and develop-

ment partners about the outcome

rom the development o the Arican

10-Year Framework Programme on

Sustainable Consumption and Pro-

duction;

Catalyze the required political com-

mitment and support at the national,

regional and international level or

the urther development and imple-

mentation o the Arican 10-Year

Framework Programme; and

Announce the establishment o the

regional coordinating and support

mechanism or the urther develop-

ment and implementation o the A-

rican 10-YFP.

The session was attended by Ambassa-dors residing in Addis Ababa, high-level

government ocials, representatives o

international organizations and well

over 80 participants o the Fourth A-

rican Roundtable on Sustainable Con-

sumption and Production (ARSCP-4)

rom thirty two countries. The Arican

Union, UNECA, UNIDO, UNEP and

Ambassadors o the Federal Republic

o Germany and the Royal Kingdom o

Morocco highlighted the importance opromoting sustainable consumption and

production in the region and expressed

their support or the urther develop-

ment and promotion o the Arican 10

The development of the African 10-YFP on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) wasfacilitated by UNEP, UN-DESA.

Launch of the African 10-YFP on Sustainable Consumption and Production.


17/20


year Framework Programme on sustain-

able consumption and production thatwas approved by the Arican Ministerial

Conerence on Environment (AMCEN)

in March 2005.

In his Keynote Remark to the launch

session His Excellency President Girma

Woldeghiorgis urged Arican countries

to seize the emerging opportunities in

the area o sustainable production and

consumption and promote the devel-

opment o their economies on a more

sustainable basis. He noted that such an

approach will allow Arican countries to

achieve a sustained progress on poverty

reduction while at the same time it will

allow them to hand over a healthy and

stable environment to the uture gen-

erations. In this regard, He extended his

call to all Arican countries to actively

participate in the urther development

and implementation o the 10-yearramework programme at national and

sub-regional levels. Though the eort

to be made by Aricans is the most deci-

sive actor or Aricas progress towards

sustainable development, the President

noted that international development

partners play a critical role in enhancing

Aricas capacity on urther developing

and implementing the ramework pro-

gramme. In this regard, the President

Sustainable Development (WSSD) un-

derlined that undamental changes in

the way societies produce and consume

are indispensable or achieving global

sustainable development. Specically

called to encourage and promote the

development o a 10-year rameworko programmes in support o regional

and national initiatives that accelerate

the shit towards sustainable consump-

tion and production, the United Nations

Environment Programme (UNEP) and

the United Nations Department o Eco-

nomic and Social Aairs (UN-DESA),

together with various stakeholders, have

taken the lead in acilitating the devel-

opment o the 10 Year Framework o

Programmes on Sustainable Consump-tion and Production at the international

and regional level.

The Development o the Arican 10 Year

Framework Programme on Sustain-

able Consumption and Production was

acilitated by UNEP and UN-DESA in

close consultation with the Secretariats

o the Arican Ministerial Conerence on

Environment (AMCEN) and the Secre-

tariat o the Arican Roundtable on Sus-

tainable Consumption and Production

(ARSCP) which has been established

and supported by UNEP. p

expressed his appreciation to the initia-

tive taken by the Federal Governmento Germany to establish a Task Force

on Cooperation with Arica and called

upon all development partners to sup-

port the regional eort by providing

their support to the ollow-up activities

under the ramework programme.

the Arican 10-YearFramework Programme onSusainable Consumpion andProducion

The Johannesburg Plan o Implementa-

tion adopted by the World Summit on

I n d u s t r y

Participants in the Addis Ababa meeting.

Catalyzing the political commitment and support at national level.


18/20


I n d u s t r y

the Fouh Afican roundabe on SusainabeConsumpion and Poducion (ArSCP-4)

The Fourth Arican Roundtable on

Sustainable Consumption and Pro-duction (ARSCP-4) was held rom 29-31

May 2006 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The

Roundtable, which consisted o our ple-

nary sessions, our parallel thematic ses-

sions and our regional working group

sessions, was opened by His Excellency

Girma Wolde Ghiorgis, President o the

Democratic Republic o Ethiopia and was

attended by more than 80 participants

rom 32 countries. A total o 28 presenta-

tions were made during the plenary and

parallel thematic sessions covering di-

erent topics related to SCP. The Regional

Status Report on Sustainable Consump-

tion and Production that was jointly pre-

pared by UNEP and the Arican Round-

table on Sustainable Consumption and

Production (ARSCP) was presented and

discussed during the rst plenary session.

The report outlined the uture strategic

ocus which included:

Achieve general awareness and un-derstanding o the concept among all

stakeholders so that SCP is seen as a

relevant priority;

Develop National Action Plans on

SCP; Have visible implementation o

SCP activities at an early stage;

Give particular attention to the pro-

motion o sustainable consumption

and implement small steps at a time;

Support the development o concrete

demonstration projects in some re-

gions and then replicate them else-

where;

Strengthen the Capacity Building pro-

gramme.

In addition to the technical deliberations

under the plenary and parallel thematic

sessions, the Roundtable participants had

a sub-regional working group sessionsduring which urther identication o the

key ollow-up activities under the Arican

10 Year ramework programme were car-

ried out. The ollowing are the nal con-clusions and outcome rom the conclud-

ing plenary session which deliberated on

the report o sub-regional working group

sessions:

The exercise that was conducted on the

basis o the matrix provided should

continue to be undertaken both at the

national and sub-regional level with

the appropriate adaptation o the ma-

trix to the specic context.

SCP promoting institutions at the na-

tional local and national level should

work on urther developing and im-

plementing the relevant key activities

identied through the exercise at their

respective levels.

In terms o identiying the key priority

activity areas or ollow-up at the re-

gional level, it has been agreed to ocus

on the ollowing ve priority areas:

- Ecient water utilization and ser-vices

- Labeling o Arican products to re-gional and international markets

- Promotion o integrated solid wastemanagement

- Production and use o biouels

- Inormation and knowledge man-

agement or SCP

In order to provide technical inputs or

the urther development and imple-

mentation o the ollow-up activities in

the above key areas, it was agreed ve

technical committees that will operate

under the Secretariat o the ARSCP.

The ARSCP is a regional coordinating in-

stitution established by a Charter adopted

by the third Arican Roundtable on Sus-

tainable Consumption and Production(ARSCP-3) in Casablanca, Morocco on 18

May 2004 with the view to achieve sustain-

able development o Arican countries with

an eective contribution to the reduction

o poverty, improvement o well being as

well as the protection and conservation

o the environment. The overall objective

o the ARSCP is to promote and acilitate

the development o national and regional

capacities or the eective promotion and

implementation o sustainable consump-

tion and production principles and serve

as the regional clearinghouse or sustain-

able consumption and production activi-

ties in the Arica

For more inormation on these events,please visit www.arscp.org or www.unep.org/roa/ p

ARSCP to promote and facilitate the development of national and regional capacities for theimplementation of SCP principles.


19/20


Kena launched a Bod Saeg o KeepKena Kean

The Keep Kenya Klean (3K) campaign was inaugurated at Dandora in Nairobi to mark the celebration o this years Clean up the World weekend

Angele Luh-Sy

Nairobi dwellers witnessed thelaunch o a new strategy aimed atundertaking aggressive clean-ups in or-

der to redeem the environment o the ex-

isting waste. This initiative, dubbed Keep

Kenya Klean (3K) campaign, was part o

the activities that marked the Clean up the

World on Saturday 16 September 2006 at

Dandora Phases I and II areas, in the Ke-nyan capital city.

The event mobilized UNEP through its

Regional Oce or Arica, in collabora-

tion with the Ministry o Environment

and Natural Resources through the Na-

tional Environment Management Author-

ity (NEMA), the Nairobi City Council,

several environmental groups and schools

under the theme Proud o a clean and

healthy environment, in line with the 3K

campaign.

In an eort to manage and improve the

quality o the environment in Kenya,

NEMA has developed a strategy dubbed

Keep Kenya Klean (3K) campaign, which

is aimed at undertaking aggressive clean-

ups in order to redeem the environment o

the existing waste.

The Dandora site, which harbours about

300,000 residents spread across ve phas-

es, was selected by the National Environ-ment Management Authority (NEMA) due

to its relevance to waste management issues

in Kenya and particularly as it houses the

open dumpsite or Nairobi City. The dump-

site, which was established by City Council

in the mid 1980s, has expanded; while the

estate has grown closer to it. Over the years,

some inormal structures (slum) have been

erected near the dumpsite. Dandora estate

aces serious environmental problems, in

particular solid waste management and

sanitation issues. A lot o garbage is spilledalong the streets in this area by trucks tak-

ing garbage to the dump site. The clean up

Clean up he World 2006

Clean up the World mobilizes people

around a powerul idea taking

the challenge o environment and

sustainable development to our ront

doors, our backyards, and everywhere

else around the globe. It comes withanother idea that UNEP strongly

believes in: that what we consider

waste and rubbish today could

become a resource or tomorrow

UNEP Executive Director

Achim Steiner

does not directly target the dumpsite, rather

it is to contribute to ensuring that there is

proper disposal o garbage to the dumpsite

without spilling most o the garbage along

the way and in the estate.

The dumpsite is approximately 30 solid acres

o garbage with no separation o waste; its

all heaped onto the already-existing moundso trash through which people, mostly wom-

en and street children, search or items they

might salvage and turn into a source o in-

come. To make matters worse, the Nairobi

River runs its course just meters downhill

rom the dumpsite and provides a source o

water to some residents. In addition, Dando-

ras sewage system is so poor that most o the

sewage fows directly into the river.

It was hoped that the clean up will contrib-

ute to educating and sensitizing the resi-dents o Dandora to advocate or proper

disposal and management o garbage in

the area. It actually helped in sensitizing

the residents on the dangers o using the

water orm the nearby Nairobi River.

The Clean Up in Nairobi was one among

a number o similar events plannedthroughout the country. Across the world,

over 600 members, mobilizing over 35

million volunteers rom 122 countries,

participated in this years Clean up the

World Weekend.

C l e a n u p t h e W o r l d 2 0 0 6

Communities joining hands to clean their environment at Dandora Phase I and II areas.


20/20

C l e a n u p t h e W o r l d 2 0 0 6

UNEP, Regional Ofce or Arica http://www.unep.org/roa Tel: (254-20)7624292 Fax: (254-20) [email protected] or [email protected]

PSS/O6-544

97/300/Dec2006/jo

The Clean up the World Campaign, held in conjunction with

the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has

grown steadily since the inaugural event in 1993. Activities

range rom cleaning up small villages to overhauling entire

countries. Across many regions communities also implement

recycling and educational programmes, as well as water and en-

ergy conservation projects.

Since the start o the campaign, Clean up the World members

worldwide have collected an estimated 3,574,991 tones o rubbish

enough to ll 5,710 Olympic size swimming pools. Plastic, glass,

metal and cigarette butts are among the most commonly ound

rubbish items every year. p

Documents

Regional Office for Africa Newsletter, December 2006 ~ United Nations Environment Programme