Ethiopia, UNEP agree to join forces to achieve AMCEN presidency goals

On Nov 9, 2023 183

Addis Ababa, November 9, 2023 (FBC) – Ethiopia and Ethiopia and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) agreed to collaborate and coordinate their efforts to achieve the goals of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) presidency.

Both sides reached consensus to join forces during the meeting between the Minister of Planning and Development of Ethiopia, Fitsum Aseffa and UNEP Director and Regional Representative for Africa, Ms. Rose Mwebaza.

Both sides discussed the roadmap for Ethiopia’s upcoming two-year presidency of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) and the partnership between UNEP and Ethiopia on GEF8-supported projects. They further discussed the importance of UNEP’s support for Ethiopia’s GEF8-supported projects, which are aimed at scaling up and scaling out of the best practices of the Green Legacy Initiative of Ethiopia.

During the meeting, the two parties agreed to collaborate and coordinate their efforts to achieve the goals of the AMCEN presidency.

Fitsum Aseffa highlighted the successful convening of the 19th session of the AMCEN under her presidency that was held in August 2023 in Addis Ababa, which resulted in a common position for the Group of African Negotiators (AGN) towards COP28 and also adopted a number of declarations and decisions on chemical and waste management as well as combating biodiversity loss and desertification.

She reaffirmed Ethiopia’s commitment to working with all stakeholders to ensure a successful AMCEN presidency.

For her part, Ms. Mwebaza commended Ethiopia’s leadership on environmental issues and expressed UNEP’s full support for the AMCEN presidency. She also highlighted the importance of the partnership between UNEP and Ethiopia on addressing the triple planetary crisis: Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss and Pollution.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Development (MoPD), the two parties also discussed the a draft work plan for Ethiopia’s AMCEN Presidency in the coming two years and identified key priorities for the presidency with the support of the AMCEN secretariat as well as an outstanding issues for effective engagement during the upcoming COP28 which will be held on 30 November to 12 December 2023.