The Secretariat of the Convention for Coorperation in the Protection, Management and Development of the Atlantic Coast in West, Central, and southern Africa (better known as the Abidjan Convention) has announced that the convention’s 13th Conference of the Parties will be held in Congo (Brazzaville) next month.
The conference will be held in the port city of Point Noire from 13 to 17 December.
Namibia is party to the Abidjan Convention, and the conference will be held under the theme ‘Ocean Governance for Sustainable Development of the Countries of the Abidjan Convention’.
The decision to have the convention next month was made at the third meeting of the Bureau of the Convention held virtually on 18 October, where the Nairobi-based United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) was also represented.
The Abidjan Convention is one of the regional sea programmes and action plans of Unep. The meeting also supported the adoption of a global, legally binding treatment against plastic pollution.
The meeting, according to the communication assistant of the Abidjan Convention, Vanessa Ahoundjiro, urged the secretariat to present an initiative on plastic waste management in the sub-region at the fifth United Nations Environment Assembly to be held from 28 February to 2 March next year.
In southern Africa, Namibia, Angola, and South Africa are parties to the convention.
The Abidjan Convention area spans the area from Mauritania to the seabed of South Africa.
The convention is aimed at the protection, management and development of the coastal environment of the Atlantic Coast of West, Central and southern Africa.
It was adopted in the Ivorian city of Abidjan in 1981 and came into force in 1984.
Its secretariat is hosted by Unep’s Department of Environmental Policy and Implementation in Abidjan.
The executive secretary of the Abidjan Convention, Abou Bamba, says pollution from the atmosphere and from ships are some of the biggest challenges facing the convention and requires control.