Lubango - The Vice President of Angola, Esperança da Costa, Friday in Huila Province, defended a strengthened community cooperation for the fulfilment of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development Goals and the 2063 African Union agenda.
Speaking at the 9th Meeting of Environment Ministers of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), Esperança da Costa called for the strengthening of integrative partnerships with the private sector, as well as the participation of youth and women to achieve environmental sustainability.
The Vice-President said the Covid-19 and other external aspects led Angola to ponder on the unpredictability and emergencies that create obstacles to the development, so it made efforts to reach stability based on good governance to grow and improve the quality of life of the population.
This, Esperança da Costa went on to say, involves increasing production and diversifying the economy, with priority for the primary sector of agriculture and fishing, and the manufacturing industry, as primary sources of employment, nutrition and inclusion.
"Angola has increasingly prioritised environmental issues, both nationally and internationally an, in this regard has approved the National Strategy for Climate Change, which establishes a vision until 2030 for reducing emissions, which is being implemented with energy diversification, with the aim of ensuring the adaptation of the national territory and contributing to the global effort to combat its causes", the Vice-President said.
She added that the rational management of resources and preservation of biodiversity is also a priority along with a commitment to expand environmental conservation areas, national natural parks, especially the Maiombe forest.
This, the Vice-President said, is an initiative for cross-border protection to boost action plans that are part of the efforts of the African initiative for the preservation of the Congo basin to achieve the targets of the post-2020 global agenda for biodiversity.
Esperança Costa recalled that Angola has 1,650 kilometres of sea coast, recognising the strategic importance of seas and oceans for humankind, as a source of life, so the climate crisis, pollution of oceans, production of plastics, loss of habitats and decline in biodiversity are issues that should continue to be top priority for the CPLP member countries.
The official also referred to the commitments made at the V Meeting of Ministers of Maritime Affairs held in May 2022 in Luanda, during which Angola assumed the presidency, with reviewed and approved CPLP strategy for oceans, as well as the 2022/2024 action plan.
"Angola has on its agenda the global challenges and participates in emergencies, but also has in focus and concern the management of conflicts, the commitment to lasting peace", Esperança Costa said.
"As champion of the African Union for peace and reconciliation in Africa, President João Lourenço considers that the risks and threats associated with climate change can aggravate social crises and generate conflicts, so he has been strongly committed to dialogue and concert", the Vice-President said.
The Vice-President also emphasised that she hoped that the 9th ordinary meeting of Environment Ministers of the CPLP, in the light of the growing call for action to stop the global environmental crisis, would focus on the nexus of forests, energy, livelihoods and make pragmatic commitments to strengthen scientific and technical cooperation and coordinate actions to preserve biodiversity, reduce carbon emissions through investment in alternative energy sources that guarantee the survival of our planet.
The agenda of the meeting held under the motto "Environmental Emergency in the Current Context of Multiple Crises", focused mainly on the presentation of the proposal called "Climate Heritage of Humanity".
The event will also discuss the issue of "Stable Climate" as a global common good and the interventions by Member States on "Environmental Emergency: Challenges and Opportunities", among other points.
