ACP Secretariat

Press Release

Brussels, 10 December 2004

First Meeting of the ACP Ministers of the Environment

The 1^st meeting of the ACP Ministers of the Environment, gathered in Brussels on 10 December 2004, under the chairmanship of Hon. Mr. Dean PEART, Minister of Lands and Environment of Jamaica, adopted the “Brussels Declaration on the Environment for Sustainable Development in ACP States” and  the “Brussels Framework for Action and Recommendations”.

The Ministers have taken measures to build the capacities of ACP countries for the management of natural resources, the fight against desertification and drought, the implementation of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements, and Water and Sanitation, and Energy and Crosscutting issues.

In the preamble to their Declaration, the ACP Ministers expressed concern that some countries have not yet ratified the Kyoto Protocol and then affirmed their support for the ongoing conference in Argentina. They also expressed their dismay at the destruction caused by hurricanes in the Caribbean that will certainly set back the development of the regions, and the damage to the West African economies caused by the destruction of harvests by locusts.

Among the main decisions enshrined in the Brussels Declaration and the Framework for Action and Recommendations are the following:

Management of natural resources

- to conduct a critical review and assessment of the situation of sustainable development in ACP States, with a view to establishing a legal framework, and appropriate policies and interventions in strategic areas,

- to ensure that environmental poverty-related issues are integrated into national development programmes, especially poverty-reduction strategies and related macroeconomic and sectoral policy reforms.

 - to set up and support programmes and projects that promote gender equality and empower women in the protection of the environment by enhancing their capacities through participation, education and training.

- to use of opportunities such as the 10-year review of the Yokohama Strategy on Natural Disaster Reduction, including the programme outcome for 2005-2015 of the World Conference on Disaster Reduction, Kobe, Japan, January 2005 to consider specific concerns such as insurance and re-insurance arrangements for ACP States.

Desertification and drought

- to improve intra-ACP actions, including the provision of resources, with a view to addressing regional environmental problems and sustainable land management and degradation issues.

- to consolidate efforts leading to the incorporation of National Action Programmes (NAP) to combat desertification into development strategies, including documents on poverty reduction and the National (NIP) and Regional (RIP) Indicative Programmes provided for under the Cotonou Agreement.

Multilateral environmental agreements

- to integrate environmental issues into all national and regional development policies, programmes and plans.

- to pursue, through all available means, the ratification and full implementation of environmental Conventions and Protocols.

Water and Sanitation

- to promote an integrated approach to effective environmental protection, including waste and pollution management, where the issues of sanitation on both qualitative and quantitative aspects are integrated into national and regional water resources management strategies.

 - to encourage public-private partnerships for developing water supply and sanitation.

- to strengthen the role of women in the management of water resources and the provision of adequate sanitation services.

Energy

- to actively encourage public-private sector partnerships in this domain.

- to strengthen the capacities of the ACP universities of science and technology in the development and maintenance of renewable energy technologies.

- to encourage increased participation of women in the decisions on energy consumption and production.

The Executive Director of the United Nation Environment program (UNPE), Mr. Klaus Topfer and the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) were invited to address the meeting at the opening session.