Pretoria – Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa is expected to attend a high-level segment of the 6th Special Session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in Cairo.
The special session, which is being held under the theme ‘Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement: from policy to implementation in Africa’, will take place from Monday until Tuesday.
“The meeting will provide an opportunity for ministers and experts to deliberate on how to move forward with regard to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the 193 members of the United Nations,” the Department of Environmental Affairs said in a statement on Monday.
The department said the global climate deal reached at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) last year, and its implications for Africa, features prominently on the AMCEN agenda.
The special session offers an opportunity for governments on the continent to deliberate on what the Paris Agreement means for the region and its people.
Other priority issues and initiatives on the agenda for the AMCEN include the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative and the implementation of the African Common Strategy on Combating Illegal Exploitation and Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora.
"This issue is of particular importance to South Africa, considering that we are hosting the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES COP17).
"The African common strategy facilitates and harnesses the collective action needed for us to combat the illicit trade in wildlife that is decimating species on our continent, by disrupting and dismantling the transnational, organised criminal syndicates involved," said Minister Molewa.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and INTERPOL estimate that "wildlife crime, comprising fauna and flora and including logging, poaching and trafficking of a wide range of animals, amounts to between USD70 billion and USD213 billion a year".
At the end of the special session, AMCEN will adopt a declaration, a set of decisions and key messages reflecting the discussions under the various issues on the agenda. – SAnews.gov.za
