At AMCEN, a focus on Africa environmental leadership

The 20th session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) concluded with an affirmation of the value of working together in a collaborative manner to build on Africa’s successes in conserving and restoring nature for the long term. 

The Nairobi gathering of African environment ministers ended with a declaration that acknowledged, “with appreciation, the support of the global financing institutions, including the Global Environment Facility, to African countries in addressing their environmental priorities over more than three decades.” 

Delegates also stressed the importance of African leadership on the environment and welcomed the decision to hold the second meeting of the GEF-9 replenishment process in Botswana, calling on all countries in the position to do so to contribute to an ambitious outcome that will power environmental initiatives across developing countries worldwide. 

The declaration also included a call for enhanced financial support to the GEF-managed Least Developed Countries Fund and Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, recognizing their importance to global adaptation and nature goals, including the New Collective Quantitative Goal and Target 19 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

In Nairobi, the GEF’s Head of Programming Fred Boltz noted that the GEF has directed nearly one third of its resources to Africa – over $7.7 billion – over the last three decades. 

These investments have enabled African nations to make major gains, such as the creation of more than 160 new protected areas and improving the management of 480 more, covering an area five times the size of Kenya, or over one tenth of the African continent.

In addition to highlighting successful solutions in events focused on sustainable financing for nature, blended finance strategies, and illegal wildlife trade, Boltz stressed that the GEF is undertaking streamlining reforms to ensure increased effectiveness and greater country ownership in the coming four-year funding period and beyond. 

He thanked Botswana for its offer to host the next GEF-9 replenishment meeting in October, noting the country’s commitment to devote over 40 percent of its territory to nature conservation. He also recognized Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa as recipient-donors to the GEF, and invited others to also consider contributing to the GEF as well as continuing to engage in its programming.

“We invite you to join us, not merely as observers but as contributors and decision-makers to guide our future efforts. We are grateful to Botswana for hosting us, and deeply grateful to Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa as recipient-donors, taking their seats at the table as key decision makers for the future of the GEF. We invite others to join and to represent Africa in this critical process,” he said. 

“We hope that this privileged opportunity to join you at AMCEN-20, to reaffirm our partnership for Africa, will set in motion a new era in which African nations stand as leaders of the GEF partnership to ensure that the GEF-9 replenishment achieves your priorities and meets Africa’s needs for a nature positive future to sustain a healthy and resilient planet for healthy people.”