The 8^th special session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) took place virtually under the heading: ‘Enhancing environmental action for effective post-COVID recovery in Africa’. An expert session on 30 November 2020 was followed by a Ministerial session on 4 December 2020. It focused on increasing environmental action to protect and restore ecosystems through building back better, enhancing resilience to future pandemics and fostering a more sustainable development path. Environmental improvements will be a core dimension of the COVID-19 economic recovery. African governments and institutions proposed a comprehensive Africa Green Stimulus programme.

Vice-President Frans Timmermans attended the Ministerial Conference and expressed the EU’s support: ‘The European Union stands ready to support the development of an African Green Stimulus Programme. This is precisely the type of response that is needed now, and we look forward to its endorsement by the African Union.’

The special session considered key issues on the agenda of the 5^th United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) to be held from 22 to 26 February 2021 and agreed on the need to protect nature and facilitate a green recovery with concerted global action.

It also provided an opportunity for African countries to find common ground for the 15^th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD-COP15) which is expected deliver a strong post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

Next steps will be to re-energise the implementation of AMCEN and African Union commitments, with a focus on boosting investments in areas with a strong environmental impact, such as renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, circular economy and digitalisation. This will set a foundation for a long-term contribution to the post-COVID-19 recovery plan for Africa, premised on leveraging the environment to rebuild better.

The speech from Vice-President Timmermans is available on: https://bit.ly/3pSDhWQ