Ministers of Environment across the continent of Africa have agreed to support a comprehensive green recovery plan to boost economies and social systems aimed at building back better from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a ministerial statement issued today at the closing of the eighth special session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), representatives of the 54 African governments reaffirmed their commitment to enhance environmental resilience as well as to protect and sustainably use natural resources for the region’s development.
In a high-level Ministerial regional conference that was held virtually under the theme “Enhancing environmental action for effective post-COVID recovery in Africa”, participants further called to accelerate the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems as part of an effort to sustainably build back African economies from the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic.
Barbara Creecy, Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries of South Africa and President of AMCEN said: “whilst this pandemic is having a profound negative impact on sustainable development and our efforts to combat environmental degradation and eradicate poverty, it also presents opportunities to set our recovery on a path of transformative sustainable development.” Read more…
