Egypt is hosting the 15th session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) from 2 to 6 March, where Egypt will take over the presidency from Tanzania for two years, according to a statement from the Environment Ministry on Thursday.
The conference, which is titled “Managing Africa’s Natural Capital for Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction,” will be attended by ministers from 54 African countries to discuss environmental issues affecting the African continent and take unified positions towards global environmental issues.
AMCEN has been one of the most important conferences on the environment ever since it started in Cairo in 1985. It develops strategies, improves environment policies and implements decisions.
Environment Minister Khaled Fahmy said three meetings will be held before the conference from 28 February to 1 March. The first will discuss the possibility of applying a green economy and view the Egyptian exploratory study that was prepared to this effect last year in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Program. The second meeting will discuss ways to preserve and maintain the natural African capital as an asset for sustainable development. And civil society organizations and NGOs will discuss environmental challenges facing Africa in the third meeting.
He also said the conference will address strategies emanating from the Earth Summit (Rio + 20), review the plan of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and discuss mechanisms of sustainable production and consumption in Africa. It will also discuss the outcome of the climate summit in Lima in December 2014 and prepare for the climate summit in Paris in 2015 to present a unified African climate strategy to it. And it is also discussing sustainable development goals after 2015 and biodiversity issues.
