African environment ministers kick off tenth AMCEN session in Abidjan

The 2024 African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) has opened its doors for the tenth special session engagements for African Environmental ministers ahead of the 29th Climate Change Conference of parties in Baku, Azerbaijan in two months’ time.

The two-day AMCEN ministerial segment on ‘Raising Africa’s Ambition to Reduce Land Degradation, Desertification, and Drought’ in the wake of climate change effects kicked off in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

Kenya’s presence was registered by Environment, Climate Change and Forestry Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, among other delegates.

Speaking at the AMCEN launch ceremony, Simon Stiell, the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, highlighted the power of nature-based solutions combined with biodiversity conservation and land restoration, to tackle any sort of nature loss.

“It is time to flip the script, from potential climate tipping points to exponential changes in business, investment and growth,” he said in his address.

Addressing the media on the sidelines after the AMCEN launch, Peter Odhengo, the head of climate finance and green economy at the Africa Green Climate Finance National Designated Authorities Network (AfDAN), maintained that the climate crisis in Africa is an economic sinkhole, which sucks the momentum out of economic growth.

He noted that it is the prioritization on climate action that will unlock a goldmine of benefits both to urban and rural communities who depend on land fertility.

“Africans must overhaul climate finances that come in form of both commercial or concessional loans. Imagine asking an old woman in the village who cannot till her land due to unfavorable conditions to pay such taxes whenever she buys salt for her grandchildren whose parents were swept away by floods that also washed away her livestock, isn’t that immoral?” He posed.

According to the Convention on Wetlands Organization, the 10th special session of AMCEN seeks to raise the profile of land degradation, desertification and gain higher political momentum in the prioritization of efforts to combat and mitigate the real threats to Africa.

The two-day environmental ministers convention, which comes to a closes on Friday, is mandated to provide advocacy for environmental protection in Africa, and ensure that basic human needs are met adequately and in a sustainable manner.

It is also expected to ensure that social and economic development is realized at all levels with sustainable agricultural practices to meet the food security needs of the African continent.