Malabo (Equatorial Guinea),
30 June 2011 - African heads of state have
stressed the need for a common voice on
sustainable development in the run-up to
next year's major Rio+20 conference.
Heads of state and government ministers
from 53 states were among 130 participants
at a roundtable event held in Equitorial
Guinea during the African Union Summit of
Heads of States and Governments, which ends
on 1 July.
Organized by the UN
Environment Programme (UNEP), the African
Union Commission, the UN Economic Commission
for Africa and the African Development Bank,
the roundtable event aimed to provide a
platform of high level dialogue for African
states to reflect on the continent's preparations
for next year's UN Conference on Sustainable
Development (Rio+20).
The roundtable served
as a platform for the sharing of ideas,
suggestions and recommendations which can
contribute towards Africa's common strategy
for Rio+20.
Entitled "Mobilizing
African Leadership for an Effective Regional
Preparatory Process for the United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20)",
the event also included participants from
UN agencies, regional economic commissions,
the European Union and civil society groups.
The two main themes
of Rio+20 - the Green Economy in the context
of sustainable development and poverty eradication
and the institutional framework for sustainable
development - were the focus of discussions.
"Africa is a region
with perhaps the most to gain from a world-wide
shift towards a Green Economy", said
UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive
Director Achim Steiner, addressing participants
at the roundtable.
"Rio+20 could represent
an evolution of sustainable development
that recognizes and values Africa's assets
in a way that reflects the economic, social
and environmental realities of a world markedly
different from Rio 1992. The challenge for
Rio+20 is to accelerate and to scale all
this up in a way that meets Africa's challenges,
by unleashing its inordinate potential as
a major force in a sustainable 21st century",
added Mr Steiner.
The round table was
moderated by Jean Ping, Chairperson of the
African Union Commission and was officially
opened by Denis Sassou Nguesso, President
of the Republic of the Congo, with Jacob
Zuma, President of the Republic of South
Africa, and Jean Francois Bozize, President
of the Central Africa Republic.
President Zuma of South
Africa used the roundtable event to announce
the official launch of the South African
Renewables Initiative (SARI), which aims
to catalyze industrial and economic benefits
through a scaling-up of renewable energy
in the country.
In closing the roundtable,
moderator Jean Ping underlined the shared
responsibilities of UN Economic Commission
for Africa, the African Union Commission
and African Ministerial Conference on the
Environment (AMCEN) to coordinate the drafting
of the common position on Rio+20. He also
invited Kenya and South Africa to share
their experiences in geothermal and in renewable
energy with other countries.
The discussions from
the roundtable will be reflected in a decision
on Rio +20, to be taken by African heads
of state on the final day of the summit
on 1 July 2011.
