Excellencies,
Let me begin by once again congratulating you on the 40th Anniversary of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), which you celebrated earlier this year during your 20th Ordinary Session.
As I said then, AMCEN has played a key role in setting the continents environmental agenda: from shaping regional environmental agreements to endorsing the Great Green Wall to developing common positions for all major environmental conventions.
I am pleased that your vision for the future, as outlined in the political declaration, commits AMCEN to safeguarding natural capital, creating green growth and so much more. And your environmental priorities for the biennium 2025-2027, agreed at the 20th session, provide a foundation for accelerating action that dovetails with UNEPs next Medium-Term Strategy and Programme of Work.
I am also pleased to see strong engagement from African ministers and nations here at the seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) particularly from our gracious host nation Kenya, the sponsor of no fewer than four resolutions, on Artificial Intelligence, on environmental crime, on the environmental dimension of antimicrobial resistance and on sport and the environment. I hope all African Member States can help get these and other important resolutions over the line.
Excellencies,
At this session, we will hear updates from the appropriate ministers and commissioners on the Second Africa Climate Summit, COP30, South Africas G20 presidency and more. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on what developments at these events mean for Africa. Before that, please allow me to make a few short points.
Firstly, I was very happy to see the G20, under South Africas leadership, declare clean air a global priority for the first time. I expect this to provide a real boost to tackling a deadly threat including through the Africa Clean Air Programme.
Secondly, the focus on finance at the Africa Climate Summit, COP30 and the first African Biodiversity Conference was also welcome.
We know that climate finance is insufficient. To give just one example, developing countries will need adaptation finance of US$310 to US$365 billion per year by 2035 12 times as much as current international public adaptation finance flows.
COP30 did deliver some progress. The outcome called for mobilizing at least US$1.3 trillion per year by 2035, alongside tripling adaptation finance and operationalizing the loss and damage fund. The Tropical Forests Forever Fund, launched by Brazil, raised US$5.5 billion towards conserving forests, with the Congo Basin a priority area.
And Africa is pursuing scalable climate finance in further ways, including through the Africa Climate Innovation Compact (ACIC) and the African Climate Facility (ACF), which aim to mobilize US$50 billion annually to accelerate innovation and local climate solutions. The ACIC and ACF represent a strong African push for homegrown financing mechanisms and innovation-driven climate solutions.
And as Ethiopia has now been confirmed as host of COP32 in 2027, a bid that was backed by African nations, strong African leadership around the COP could help to boost climate finance and action in support of development.
UNEP can support Member States to unlock such scalable climate finance for example, by establishing regional climate innovation hubs to incubate technologies for renewable energy, Nature-based Solutions, and climate-smart agriculture.
The need for funding on biodiversity is just as strong for a continent that hosts around 25 per cent of global biodiversity. Without dedicated financing, biodiversity loss will continue to undermine food security, health and economic resilience.
The commitment to establish an African Biodiversity Fund at the Africa Biodiversity Conference was another step forward and I hope to see this Fund operational as soon as possible. UNEP is ready to support the African Union Commission in developing modalities for the Fund ensuring transparency, equity, and alignment with global standards. UNEP can also provide guidance on integrating biodiversity finance into national budgets and accounting systems.
Excellencies,
I look forward to working with you on translating these recent commitments into accelerated progress towards Agenda 2030 and Africas Agenda 2063, working towards a continent that is resilient, inclusive and lives in harmony with nature.
