Nairobi, 20 September 2017- Over forty members of the Nairobi-based Africa Diplomatic Corps including Ambassadors and Senior Officials participated in a three-day dialogue on Environmental Diplomacy. The dialogue was organized by the UN Environment, Africa Office and took place from 18 to 20 September at the UN Environment Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.
The dialogue was the first of its kind to be organized in order to equip African diplomats with environmental information and skills to better engage in regional and global environmental negotiations with a focus on the UN Environment Assembly that will be held from 4 to 6 December 2017.
“This dialogue is important to strengthen the capacity of the African diplomats in environmental diplomacy, negotiation skills and to provide them with deep understanding of emerging environmental issues,” said Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo, Director and Regional Representative of the UN Environment, Africa Office.
Access to the right information, better organization and effective communication are crucial for negotiators to achieve concrete results in multilateral negotiations such the UN Environment Assembly.
“It is a capacity building exercise which we very much appreciate. The issue of pollution was at the heart of this dialogue as Africa has a lot of challenges in that area. We need technical capacity to understand issues and the UN Environment Secretariat is helping us in that regard,” said H.E. Kelebert Nkomani, Dean of the Africa Diplomatic Corps and High Commissioner of Zimbabwe. “This dialogue can be extended to other diplomatic stations. I am thinking of Addis Ababa, Geneva and New York because our colleagues in these stations are all involved in negotiations,” he added.
Asked about the preparedness of the Africa Group for the upcoming UN Environment Assembly, the Chair of the Committee of Permanent Representatives, H.E John Moreti, High Commissioner of Botswana said: “the capacity of the [African] negotiators, the mix between Ambassadors and technical experts, the very timely intervention by the UN Environment, Africa Office have convinced me that we are ready for UNEA.”
“With the amount of information that was shared with the group focusing on pollution, I am absolutely convinced that the group is well equipped,” Ambassador Moreti added.
The multilateral environmental system has significantly evolved during the last few decades, and a number of its components have become increasingly interconnected in complex ways. The dialogue was an opportunity to discuss the complexity of this system and how diplomacy works through various institutions and international fora, especially the UN Environment Assembly.
Conducted in a friendly and open format, the dialogue was recommended for replication with African diplomats that interact with the African union in Addis Ababa and those that engage with the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Through this dialogue a strong link will be developed between the African diplomats in the two capitals on one hand, and members of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to the United Nations Environment programme in Nairobi on the other hand. It has the potential to enhance a common understanding of the sustainable development issues that are facing the African region.
About UN Environment Assembly:
The UN Environment Assembly, the world's highest-level decision-making body on the environment, will gather in Nairobi, Kenya, from 4 to 6 December 2017 under the overarching theme of pollution.
The Assembly aims to deliver a number of tangible commitments to end the pollution of our air, land, waterways, and oceans, and to safely manage our chemicals and waste.
