Speech delivered at the Eighth Special Session of AMCEN
Excellency, Minister Barbara Creecy of South Africa, and President of AMCEN
Excellency, Commissioner Josefa Correa Leonel, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, African Union Commission
Excellencies, Ministers, Colleagues and Friends.
Thank you for inviting me to address this very unique eighth Special Session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN).
UNEP stands in solidarity with the people of the African Continent as together we seek to overcome the devastating pandemic and I express condolences and wishes of strength and solidarity to all affected.
Excellencies, Ministers, as we seek to overcome this pandemic, we do so with the knowledge that COVID-19 is far from the only catastrophe that we face. The planet is getting warmer each year. Ecological degradation has reached unprecedented levels and COVID-19 has erased valuable progress in our work towards inclusive, equitable and sustainable development. As the United Nations Secretary-General said just a few days ago in a landmark speech, “the planet is broken.”
And here, AMCEN is a vital political forum for facing down the environmental challenges striking the continent’s diverse nations. Much of Africa has already warmed by more than 1 °C since 1900. According to the World Meteorological Organisation, climate change could reduce mean yields between 8 to 13 per cent across the region, putting further pressure on poverty reduction efforts. And as we know, the impacts of natural disasters and extreme weather on migration and human displacement are becoming more acute. Weather pattern anomalies could force more than 11 million people to migrate annually by the end of the 21st century. This destructive impact of climate change could also claim over half of Africa’s bird and mammal species by 2100.
As the UN Secretary-General said, making peace with nature therefore, is the defining task of the 21st century. It must be the number one priority for everyone, everywhere because making peace with nature is securing people’s well-being and sustainability.
Ministers, the next year will be crucial in building momentum to make peace with nature, for several reasons. Let me highlight just three points in this regard.
Firstly, in overcoming the pandemic, we can also avert a climate catastrophe and restore our planet.
I salute and celebrate the framing of the Africa Green Stimulus Programme to which Minister Creecy just referred. Indeed according to the African Development Bank, GDP in all five Africa sub-regions could fall by 50 to 85 per cent by 2050 if climate change is left unabated. So that Green Stimulus Programme will matter, and matter greatly.
In Africa, there is greater recognition than ever of this reality: Of the role sustainable investments, and the need to align domestic resources to fuel green post-COVID economic growth. Already much has happened. Uganda for example, expanded public works programmes in the roads, water and environment sector. Ghana aims to “climate-proof” post-COVID-19 recovery investments and stimulus packages. Senegal exempted 22 different products from VAT to boost renewable energy investments. And there are many more examples already on the Continent.
I congratulate Ministers on you deliberations on a green recovery programme for the continent. I call on international solidarity and domestic realignment of resources to fund the green recovery. Let us remember that much of this recovery might include funds that are borrowed, so let us make sure that we do not leave to the next generation, both a broken planet and a debt burden.
Because Ministers, we know that there are tremendous opportunities. Investing in indigenous and clean energy could provide 67 per cent of the continent’s power generation by 2030. Mitigating emissions in Africa’s energy sector could result in as many as 11.8 million jobs by 2050. Scientific solutions such as solar-powered micro-irrigation can improve yields by up to 300 per cent and reduce water usage by up to 90 per cent.
In overcoming this pandemic therefore, we can restore the planet and overcome climate catastrophe. The Green Stimulus Programme in Africa is a roadmap for getting us there.
Secondly, 2021 brings crucial decision points for nature and for climate.
The international community will finalize the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, in Kunming next year. We all need to push for a strong, ambitious agreement with clear means of implementation so that we engage every sector that drives biodiversity loss, whether it be the agriculture sector or fishing sector. By way of example, the fishing industry contributes to the food security of over 200 million people. The African Union puts the first-sale value of African fisheries at USD 19.7 billion per year. But if the fisheries sector were managed sustainably, it would bring in an additional USD 2 billion per year and ensure long-term supplies.
And here, the proposed target eight in the zero draft of the Biodiversity Framework calls for the sustainable management of biodiversity to ensure nutrition, food security and livelihoods. Let me be clear: Such an ambitious target will not be within reach unless the fishing and agricultural industries and those who regulate it, engage in a decisive way.
The delayed Climate Conference of the Parties in the United Kingdom is also scheduled to take place next year. We are, unfortunately, off track on our global mitigation goals. A green pandemic recovery could help, as would translating recent net-zero commitments from big emitters into concrete plans and including them in updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
In line with the Climate Finance Promise, it is also important that national governments on the Continent speed up the national adaptation plans and to get these financed. As the second Africa Adaptation Gap Report released some years ago found, adaptation costs for Africa could reach USD 50 billion each year by 2050 even if we hit the 2°C target. So financing for adaptation matters, and matters greatly but we are not seeing adequate financing in this area yet. Therefore, green recovery plans should offer smart and innovative mechanisms for financing Africa’s NDCs and the SDGs.
The year 2021 brings crucial decision points for nature and for climate, and for the Continent.
And thirdly, we can together ensure UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration gets underway and really takes root on the Continent.
Africa is the most important continent for us to achieve the global target of Land Degradation Neutrality and implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. There are over 700 million hectares of degraded land in Africa. The Pan-African Action Agenda on Ecosystem Restoration for Increased Resilience provides an excellent starting point, as does the Great Green Wall Initiative and other African-born and African-driven initiatives. UNEP and FAO, as the lead agencies of the UN Decade, together with all our partners, will support African countries and Africa's youth, civil society and private sector to harness the full potential of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
The Decade points to the possibility of restoring 30 million hectares of degraded ecosystems by 2030. This could generate USD 9 trillion in ecosystem services and remove up to 26 gigatonnes of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The Decade is a chance for Africa to lead by meeting its land restoration commitments, and for the rest of the world to exhibit solidarity in getting there, and in so doing, mitigating climate change, boosting food security, adapting to climate change and conserving biodiversity.
Using the Decade of Restoration to drive all of the Rio Conventions and more.
These are three solid opportunities. A fourth comes in the next United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5).
I know that meeting virtually is not always ideal, but we cannot afford to wait. And AMCEN’s meeting this week is a testament to your determination to engage despite the challenges intrinsic to the virtual world. I am pleased to note that progress has been made on the format of the upcoming fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly, with the decision to hold a virtual session on 21 and 22 February 2021, followed by a resumed session in 2022.
The virtual session will approve an ambitious Medium-Term Strategy, Programme of Work and Budget, which will enable us to continue strengthening UNEP so it can deliver better, and more impactfully for you. The virtual session of UNEA will also create a space for Ministers to engage on the imperative of building a resilient and inclusive post-pandemic world.
I want to stress how remarkable it is that you, the Ministers of UNEA will have a voice in just a couple months. Most Conference of Parties and associated meetings have been postponed. But not UNEA. In forging ahead, Member States have demonstrated commitment to the environmental agenda and to ensuring that an ambitious Medium-Term Strategy is approved on time, to serve you.
The virtual session of UNEA will set the bar high for multilateralism and I thank all of the Excellencies present here, for your strong leadership in this regard.
Excellencies,
In conclusion, let me say that we know what we have to do. We must prioritize green investments as we seek to a green pandemic recovery. We must focus every drop of energy on meeting the Paris Agreement goals, on both mitigation and adaptation. We must deliver a compelling post-2020 biodiversity framework, and then hit our targets. We must stretch and achieve the goals of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. We must vigorously pursue the Global Goals for more equitable, inclusive and sustainable development. We must make good on every environmental promise we have made, and then go far beyond what we imagined possible. With your leadership I know this is possible. For our own sake. And for the sake of generations to come.
Thank you.
Executive Director
