Building Back Better: A Greener Pathway to COVID Recovery in Africa

When: 25 February 2021 ; 4 - 5:30pm (CET)

Where: Online; Join here

What: Over the last two decades, Africa experienced an average annual GDP growth of 4.6% and, this growth rate is expected to be sustained until 2022. However, the COVID -19 pandemic has greatly eroded these gains resulting in livelihoods disruption because of food insecurity, lack of medical supplies, loss of income and a looming debt crisis. The unprecedented impacts of the pandemic have inevitably slowed progress towards achieving SDGs in the continent.

On the optimistic side, the pandemic recovery effort presents an excellent opportunity to reset the economy (rethink, re-skill, re-strategize, re-tool) where appropriate by ensuring a more inclusive, sustainable and low-carbon development pathway. It is therefore essential to ensure that Africa’s economic recovery is well integrated and closely aligned with the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the African Union’s Agenda 2063, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and other Multilateral Environmental Agreements.

The continent has an opportunity to build back better by embracing a greener pathway to COVID-19 recovery. One key transformational action to achieve this is by aligning circular economy approaches to existing inter-governmental process on environmental sustainability per the 15th AMCEN 2019 decision on circular economy and, the regional implementation mechanism of circular economy in Africa as outlined in the African Green Stimulus Package Programme2 that was endorsed during the 8th Special Session AMCEN meeting in 2020.

This event, organised by the UN Environment Programme, aims at discussing what a common approach to building back better through a greener pathway to COVID19 recovery should look like, and offering an opportunity for countries to share lessons on policies and strategic approaches towards COVID-19 recovery.

Find more information here.