3 July 2020
High level engagements at the 16th CAFI Board Meeting
“In difficult times, we need to explicitly stress the importance of land-use and sustainable forest management as primary solutions to control disease outbreaks and fight the climate crisis”. Martina Metz, Head of the Division for rural development of the German development Agency (BMZ), opened the 16th CAFI Executive Board meeting, which took place from 22-25 June, to the virtual presence of donors, partner countries and implementing agencies.
The Board meeting was an opportunity to address strategic processes that are taking place this year, as Central African countries prepare to communicate by the end of the year their long-term commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as set out in the Paris Agreement. The participation of Arlette Soudan-Nonault, Minister of Environment and Tourism of the Republic of Congo, was a testimony to her country’s strong political commitment to take on global responsibility to preserve the Central African rainforest. She vividly talked about the need to protect the Congolese peatlands, vulnerable ecosystems that store a carbon quantity that is similar to the above-ground carbon stocks of the entire Congo Basin, and about the critical efforts to ensure that the commitments of the Letter of Intent with CAFI be reflected in the revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) this year.
The negotiations towards a new green partnership with DRC represented another highlight on the agenda, a process that will be based on high-level political dialogue to ensure national ownership and commitment. On top of existing policy areas, the partnership will include workstreams to improving the business climate to attract private sector investments to the country, geo-specific monitoring of results, and aligning CAFI programming and policy dialogues with the DRC COVID-recovery and new National Development Plan.
Invited to participate in a high-level session with the UK Ambassador for COP-26, the Minister of Environment in DRC, Claude Nyamugabo, expressed his country’s commitment to make the new partnership a foundation for sustainable development and forest preservation and to ensure that new sectors are taken into consideration in the new NDC.
Major conversations were also held with Gabon about two new strategic programmes (CAFI 2) that will launch over the summer, to establish and reinforce protected natural areas and improve sustainable agriculture and food security. The Central African Republic recently finalized its National Investment Framework, that was praised for its technical accuracy and rigorousness.
