Bamako (Mali)/Nairobi
(Kenya), 28 June 2010 - South Africa, Kenya,
Rwanda and Uganda have taken bold initiatives
to achieve a green economy transformation.
These initiatives were presented at a United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) event
during the 13th session of the African Ministerial
Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in
Bamako, Mali.
The event, which focused
on "fostering a Green Economy Transformation
in Africa", provided a platform for
Ministers and delegates at AMCEN to share
experiences on Green Economy initiatives
being undertaken in several African countries
as well as opportunities and challenges
for Africa to achieve a green economic transformation,
building on national sustainable development
and poverty reduction initiatives that are
underway on the continent.
Governments in Africa
are starting to engage decisively in mobilizing
investments to restore and better reward
Africa's valuable socio-economic and environmental
assets. Many governments are allocating,
to various degrees, portions of their fiscal
stimulus to green economic sectors such
as renewable energies and energy efficiency
improvements, sustainable agriculture, and
better management of water and waste.
Following a Green Economy
Summit held in May this year in Johannesburg,
South Africa has embarked into the development
of a Green Economy Plan. The country earlier
launched a $ 7.5 billion fiscal stimulus
for period 2009-2011 with a primary focus
on investments that create more decent jobs,
and related to this, investments in infrastructure.
Nearly $ 1 billion is being spent in railways,
energy efficient buildings, and water and
waste management. South Africa has also
articulated concepts and principles of a
Green Economy into its budgeting process.
Today Kenya is seeking
to implement a $ 99 million restoration
of the entire Mau Forest Complex, the largest
closed-canopy forest ecosystem in Kenya
covering over 400, 000 hectares. The country
has committed to go totally green by 2017
and to restore the forest cover to 10% by
2020. Currently, the government has launched
a green energy campaign and mobilized $1
billion to construct a 280MW geothermal
power plant.
Rwanda's initiative
on forest ecosystem restoration is another
landmark in the shift to a low carbon development
path. President Paul Kagame received the
Energy Globe Award on World Environment
Day this year and has through action, featured
environment prominently in the country's
vision 2020 Plan. Through this Vision 2020
and related poverty reduction strategy,
Rwanda has undertaken many initiatives to
protect ecosystems for income generation
and good governance.
Uganda has taken important
steps in transforming its agricultural production
into a system of organic farming, with significant
implications for its economy, society and
the environment. Uganda is among the world's
least users of artificial fertilizers with
less than 2 per cent or 1kg/ha of the already
very low average of 9kg/ha in Sub Saharan
Africa. While increasing the level of non-organic
fertilizer use is one way of increasing
productivity, turning this apparent weakness
into an opportunity to pursue an organic
form of agricultural production is a policy
direction that Uganda is embracing.
On this occasion, UNEP
announced a new initiative on Green Economy
and Social and Environmental Entrepreneurship
Development in Africa, with funding from
the European Union, to be launched soon.
In working with African countries and regional
institutions in Africa, UNEP seeks to support
a transition to a green economy and to promote
social and environmental entrepreneurship
in Africa.
Action under this initiative
aims to encourage governments and stakeholders
to refocus policies and investment in green
economic sectors, such as renewable energies
and energy efficiency, sustainable agriculture,
low-carbon transport, water, forest and
fishery resources, and to enhance social
and environmental entrepreneurship with
a view to strengthening local capacities,
delivering green jobs, and contributing
to sustainable development and poverty reduction
in Africa.
The Green Economy Initiative
for Africa will support the development
of national green economy strategies by
providing platforms for national consultations
on Green Economy, building partnerships,
enhancing synergy with existing strategies,
policies and programmes and supporting Africa's
readiness for the Rio+20 Conference.
At the same event, the
2010 SEED Awards for entrepreneurship in
sustainable development were launched.
In 2010, as part of
the project financed by the European Union,
SEED will particularly focus on Africa,
making up to 20 awards available for promising
social and environmental entrepreneurs in
Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda,
and Senegal. In addition, there will be
up to 10 awards in South Africa, and up
to 5 elsewhere in the developing world
By integrating social
and environmental benefits into their business
models, social and environmental entrepreneurs
help to generate livelihoods and alleviate
poverty. But they face considerable challenges
along the path to scale up, from developing
their business plans and finding funding,
to managing their partnerships. The SEED
award consists of assistance in these areas,
tailored to the particular needs of the
winners, profiling winning initiatives nationally
and internationally, and networking to other
organisations that could help.
Note to editors:
The SEED Initiative
is a partnership founded by the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP), the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and
International Union for Conservation of
Nature (IUCN). SEED Awards are given to
outstanding start-up social and environmental
entrepreneurs who have innovative solutions
to local problems.
Opportunities offered
by social and environmental entrepreneurs
include long-term sustainability - a business
approach with stakeholders; generating new
livelihoods; delivering environmental benefits;
training people in the community; supporting
communities and good governance; preserving
local culture and diversity; developing
innovative solutions to local problems and
helping to drive the green economy.
