NAIROBI, KENYA – THE 20th Ordinary Session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN-20) is currently underway in Nairobi, Kenya, with Zimbabwe reaffirming its state of readiness to host the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties on Wetlands (COP15) next week in Victoria Falls.
The high-level meeting, which commenced on Tuesday, aims to set Africa’s environmental priorities from 2025 to 2027, while also shaping unified African positions for key global environmental forums such as COP30, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the ongoing global plastics treaty negotiations.
On the sidelines of the summit, Zimbabwe joined other countries in discussing the Global Wetlands Outlook 2025, a sobering report which reveals that 22% of wetlands globally have vanished since 1970, making wetlands the most rapidly declining ecosystem type.
“The report provides clear solutions, backed by data and real-world examples, showing that wetland recovery is achievable and cost-effective if governments and institutions act swiftly. It warns that continued neglect will deepen the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss, and hit the most vulnerable populations hardest. In a few days’ time we will be in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe to discuss how best we can restore some of these wetlands and of course look for financing mechanisms,” Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands, Dr Musonda Mumba said.
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, Dr Evelyn Ndlovu, emphasised that COP15 must deliver transformative strategies to address worsening water scarcity, habitat loss, and climate instability.
“Wetlands provide crucial services such as water purification, carbon storage, fisheries support, flood control, and their rapid destruction threatens both biodiversity and human livelihoods. African Ministerial Conference on the Environment, or AMCEN, needs to be a driving force, able to transform environmental policies into drivers for economic transformation,” she said.
AMCEN-20, jointly hosted by Kenya and Libya, runs under the theme: “Four Decades of Environmental Action in Africa: Reflecting on the Past and Imagining the Future.”
The summit also marks 40 years of AMCEN’s existence as Africa’s foremost environmental policy-making platform.
As Zimbabwe prepares to host COP15 in Victoria Falls, expectations are high for Africa to take a united stand and influence the global climate and biodiversity agenda.
