 I think we are just about there. Maybe we keep moving. Philip, you may take up the space. Thank you so much, Dr. Koudia. Can you hear me? Yeah, we can hear you, Philip. Yeah, on behalf of the coordinating partners, that is the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, African Union Commission, United Nations Environment Program, Regional Office for Africa, and the Stockholm Environment Institute, it's my pleasure now to welcome all of you distinguished delegates, participants, and colleagues to the inaugural vital partnership forum for the integrated action on air pollution and climate change in Africa. During this session, you will have the benefit of hearing from some of our top leadership across the four institutions, as well as some of the experts from different intergovernment organizations, national governments, and civil society organizations. My name is Philip Osano. I am the Director, Center Director for the Stockholm Environment Institute, Africa Center based in Nairobi. And we will take you through very quickly the objectives of this meeting and some background. Could I request that we round the slides? So the assessment has several benefits. As most of you might know, the Africa Integrated Assessment on Air Pollution and Climate Change is currently being finalized. But we have completed the summary for decision makers, which was launched at the Climate Corporate 7 in Egypt. Some of the key highlights from the summary for decision makers is the fact that the assessment identifies five action areas and within those five action areas are total of that seven measures that if implemented in an integrated way, would lead to the prevention of about 200,000 premature deaths by year by 2030. That is in time for the SDGs. And about 880,000 deaths by year by 2063. That's the time that we end the African Union in January 2063. There are also very strong gains or benefits that might be realized through greenhouse gas emission reduction, particularly reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 55% with emissions by 74% and nitrous oxide emissions by 40% by 2063. And that gains and benefits would be seen in food security. More specifically, the reduction or control of desertification and also increasing crop yields in particular for rice, maize, soy, and wheat. And lastly, of course, implementation of these measures would contribute to global efforts to limit warming to the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees. And at the same time, of course, limit also some negative effects on the regional climate change in Africa. Next slide. So the purpose of this meeting is a fast partnership forum. We expect to have maybe two others that might follow during this year. And is to create awareness, partnerships, and develop a roadmap for implementation of that seven measures across the five key areas, which are transport, presidential, energy, agriculture, and waste to fight climate change, prevent air pollution, and protect human health and the environment simultaneously. Next slide. We have four aims for this meeting. The first one is to determine how to strengthen existing community of practice as partnerships that would implement that seven measures across the five key areas. And this is in line with the African Ministry of Conference on Environment, decision 18, strong forum mandate. The partnership will support action by stakeholders at different scale, sub-national scale, national scale, and regional scale, and continental scale. The second aim is to propose a roadmap to assist the African Union Commission to coordinate implementation of the proposed African Clean Air Program and the development of a continental scale cooperation framework linking to African Union agenda 263 priorities, the sustainable development goals, the NDCs under the Paris Agreement, and the resolutions of the United Nations Environment Assembly, of course, among others. The third aim is to document expression of interest, and this is very important, in supporting or being involved in the implementation of the measures in across the five key areas, based on respective country and regional policies, as well as sector policies. And lastly, of course, we hope to identify champion countries in each of the regional economic communities across Africa that would lead implementation at regional scale. Next slide. So we have two expected outputs. One is, of course, an African-wide community of practice on an integrated response to air pollution and climate change, that these issues are conceptualized, and the way for operationalization is determined. And the second one is to develop an outline for African Clean Air Program organizers of the meeting. Next slide. So just as a reminder, the assessment identifies actions across five key areas. And these five key areas are energy, residential sector, waste, agriculture, and transport. And within each of those five areas, you can see each of the measures that have been suggested that have come out of the assessment recommendations. Next slide. We will later on hear from the Secretariat of the African Ministry of Conference on Environment via decision 18, stroke 4. The AMSEN noted the completion of the integrated assessment of air pollution and climate change for sustainable development in Africa and its report in response to the AMSEN decision 17, stroke 2, which add African government, African countries to support further development and implementation of that seven recommended measures as a continent-wide Africa Clean Air Program. Coordinated by strong country-led initiatives and cascaded to the regional economy communities and higher levels of policy. Next slide. So that's it by way of background aims objectives. As we get into this first session, it's now my pleasure to introduce the four speakers that will be representing the key coordinating partners of Climate and Clean Air Pollution, Stockholm Environment Institute African Union Commission and the United Nations Environment Program. So let me welcome Martina Otto, head of Secretariat Climate and Clean Air Commission, which is hosted by the United Nations Environment Program. Martina, over to you. Fantastic. Thank you so much, Philippe. And it's good to see all of you on the screen here. A pleasure to be with you. And I would like to extend a very warm welcome to the session and thank you all already for your engagement thus far in delivering and spreading the word on the integrated assessment on air pollution and climate change for sustainable development in Africa. And let me just, and you've done, Philippe, you've done a fantastic job in giving us an overview of what's in it and what we're set out to do. So let me just highlight briefly the partnership spirit in which this assessment has been delivered with the African Union Commission, the United Africa Office, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, which I have the pleasure to represent, the work of the co-chairs, the many authors, the modelers, the reviewers, and all those who have provided inputs and of course SEI for the essential role in accompanying this process so well from a technical perspective. And we look to the same partnership spirit in the implementation of the report findings, how to set up this process and help roll it out. We proudly presented the results of this first ever integrated assessment of air pollution and climate change for the continent at the last session of Amazon. You mentioned it at the Climate Corp 26 and we'll have a few milestone events this year to further raise interest in and the profile of this report. And I think it's important to highlight that the engagement of scientists from within the region was essential in the development of the report and really builds a strong scientific backbone for the implementation going forward. And similarly, in the process, we were able to close some data gaps and supported the development, for example, of national inventories. And that will be another pillar, strong pillar in going forward. And we saw the political buy-in and the commitment, both with the recognition in Amazon, but also the strong engagement and leadership of the African Union Commission and the plan for a continent-wide clean air program. I think that's a key ingredients for us to go forward. And I don't think I have to convince you of the importance of what is on our agenda, but I really wanna say air pollution is one of the greatest environmental threats to human health. The very fact that what keeps us alive, breathing, also makes us sick, makes it an imperative to act upon it. And obviously the numbers are out there in Africa and estimated one million people per year die prematurely from air pollution. So it's really important to deal with the topic. And the very fact that the air pollutants and greenhouse gases often share the same sources and drivers, including fossil fuel-driven and economic growth is that we have picked to work on the subset of so-called short-lived climate pollutants which directly contribute to climate change and air pollution and reducing those will help us to put us on a 1.5-degree pathway. And actually to say without it, it's pretty impossible to meet it. So it is really, really important also with a view on helping to limit the horrendous impact of climate change, particularly looking at the vulnerability on this continent. So really important to do this. And obviously that goes back to the fact that the short-lived climate pollutants have a global, higher global warming potential and a shorter lifetime in the atmosphere that helps us to deal with the concentrations this decade and really reduce the rate of warming. Now with the report, we identified those 37 measures and Philippe mentioned it already. This is also a way to really meet development objectives. And I think that is absolutely critical to embed it in this. Now, the beauty of those 37 measures as well that nearly all those that have been recommended have been found in one way or the other at least in one of the countries in one of the African-nationally determined contributions as well. So there's something to build on as well as we go forward. And I think for the implementation it's important to say that we need all the hands on deck. So the scientists, the businesses, finance, non-state actors, governments, development partners. And it's really about all of us joining forces to pool and pool resources to help implement these measures at the scale and at the pace that we need. And we've gathered in this group now to define the next steps towards the implementation. And I think it's really about strengthening these existing communities of practice for the measures across the five sectors that is really important to look at. The report flagged also the importance of this Africa Clean Air Program. And we're very, very glad to team up with the African Union Commission to propose also a roadmap to operationalize this all together. And we hope to record expressions of interest to lead us champion countries and to provide support as well. So I think we have all the ingredients to move forward fast together. And I very much look forward to the discussions today to kick us off on a good track to make this happen. So with that, thank you very much and thank you really for the really good partnership that already has happened and brought us to the point at which we are. Thank you. Thank you so much, Martina. Indeed, we have all the ingredients for the price partnerships to take these recommendations forward. Let me thank you on behalf of the coordinating team for the support that we have received very strongly from the Climate and Clean Air Commission and particularly from you as the head of the secretariat. We hope and look forward to that continued support. Let me now move to the next speaker, Professor Mons Nilsson, the Executive Director of Stockholm Environment Institute. Mons, the floor is yours. Thank you very much, Philip. Good to see you all, ladies and gentlemen. So at SEI, our overall work is to connect science, policy and decision-making to develop solutions for a sustainable future. We use research as our tool and build capacity, strength and institutions and equip partners for the long-term change, making scientific knowledge and tools accessible to decision makers and support a variety of partners, including governments, intergovernmental agencies and civil society to make informed decisions. So we're really happy to co-host this inaugural partnership forum together with the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, Africa Union Commission and UNEP Regional Office for Africa. Why is SEI involved here? Well, Africa and continent has been a priority for SEI for a long time. And we currently have projects and engagements in more than 30 countries. We opened our Africa Center in 2008 and have been located in Nairobi since 2012. The Africa Center of SEI is working on energy by economy, blue economy, pollution, waste, climate adaptation and urban sustainability. But our Africa work goes well beyond this with specialist research from our centers around the world feeding in. So the work of today is a case in point where combining our African specialists with colleagues in the US that have worked world-leading energy and emissions modeling expertise and in the UK on air pollution and climate modeling and mitigation. And SEI has had historical engagement on air pollution issues going back 25 years to a time when Swedish Development Corporation was funding regional air pollution in developing countries program. And it led to an information network called APINA and then the Harara Declaration in 1998 and the Lusaka Agreement in 2008 on regional cooperation for action on air pollution in Africa. And later came a program called GAP Forum, Global Atmospheric Pollution that helped us develop regional agreements in East and West Africa and pioneer the work on integrated air pollution and climate change co-benefits which is what underpins the Africa assessment that we're here to discuss today. So we've been also leading regional assessments on climate and clean air coalition in Latin America and Asia Pacific. And we use that experience to help coordinate the Africa assessment. And in all this work, partnerships with the regional scientists, the UNEP Regional Office for Africa and the regional economic communities has been crucial. And we're happy to see these partnerships gaining strength through the Africa assessment with the African Union, the UNEP, ROA, CCAC and SCI working closely together to make this a success. And the process has been backed by over 100 scientists, practitioners, advisors, mostly from Africa but also some international experts. And I think this is an achievement in itself to celebrate and we have all 100 people on this event today which really shows the sense of a growing community of practice. And we've used the SCI low emissions analysis platform called LEAP for energy planning in most African countries. And for this assessment, we have extended that tool beyond the energy sector to also include emissions from agriculture and waste. And together with CCAC, we've been able to help 17 countries in Africa to develop their mitigation plan including short-lived climate pollutant strategies, air quality strategies, and to support countries to develop their NDCs. For example, in Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire is what Tini and Zimbabwe and they're reporting to the UNFCCC. So the Africa assessment with the LEAP tool is used to develop the integrated mitigation scenarios which includes both engagement with modellers and the assessment authors to make sure that the data and the modeling is appropriate for how Africa might develop into the future. LEAP was used to develop an open source emissions inventory for every country in Africa. So note here that this database is free now for countries to use and SCI stands ready to provide further technical support to help governments and the supporting agencies to develop their own analysis as the process moves forward. And integrated actions to implement the 37 solutions that we have identified in the assessment will enable African countries to achieve low emissions development pathways and realize the goals of the Agenda 2063. We'll continue at SCI to strengthen these partnerships and support national governments to implement these measures and extend these partnerships, especially to actors in civil society and private sector that helps us bridge the gap between science policy and practice. So we can now shift the focus, continue with analysis, but also for implementation and action. Thank you very much for your attention. Thank you so much, Mons, for those inspiring words. And again, on behalf of the assessment team that we just expressed our appreciation to the support received from the Stockholm Environment Institute and also from yourself as the executive director. And I just wanted to emphasize the one word that I think has come out strongly. They need to bridge the gap between science policy and practice. I think we view the engagement with the practitioner as very essential to us. And sharing the implementation. Colleagues, let me request those that are not speaking to me just out this. A colleague called Flory kindly make yourself. Thank you. Okay, let me move to our next speaker. I would like to check if Dr. Hassan Nyambe from the African Union Commission is on line. Kevin, do we know if Dr. Nyambe is on line already? I can't see him, but Caroline, is Caroline there? Okay, as we check on Dr. Nyambe, then I think I would like to invite Dr. Richard Monang from the United Nations Environment Programme Regional Office for Africa, representing the Director and Regional Representative, Dr. Frank Greitunga. So, Dr. Monang, please, the floor is yours. Thank you very much, Philippe, and I stand on the already established protocols that have been set. Just imagine seeing your dream phone on display. On the day you are shopping for a phone, but realizing that the price is beyond your reach. But as you turn to go, the attendant tells you, he has a cheaper offer, only that it has a broken screen. With no guarantees that it would work after repair. Would you buy it? You are getting as good as mine. Yet most of us seem oblivious of a greater compounded risk scenario of climate change and pollution. Air pollutants have already hurt, and greenhouse emissions often shed sources. And are more dangerous when combined, but our basic actions seem oblivious. Consider this. Africa is the least emitter of greenhouse gases, globally responsible for only 2 to 3% of global emissions. Yet up to 70% of the continent's population is dependent on wood. And as the primary source of fuel, a scenario that is killing between 490,000 to nearly 700,000 Africans every year, while depleting forests to become the top driver of tropical forest laws and emissions. The continent is also the largest importer of used vehicles, most of which would not be allowed to circulate on the routes of exporting countries because of their high emissions. This scenario has led to a 7% growth in annual transport emissions on the continent. Cumulatively, as we're speaking today, every year, air pollution costs us over 400,000 billion while climate change reduces the productive output of each and every African by 5 to 15%. These losses title the continent's progress in realizing the sustainable development goals. And what is worse is that without urgent action, the cause of air pollution in the continent, cities is set to increase by up to 600% by 2040. So what do we need to do? Distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, it is in addressing this compounded risk that we gather to die. Our center is well-armed with positive policy signals on willingness to act, as we've already heard indicated by Africa's impressive ratification of the nationally determined contributions that provide price action in key polluting sectors. The continent is well-armed with commitment to take action to combat methane short-lived climate pollutants and black carbon among key air polluting sources that climate-clean air correlation has been leading with partners. These are well-expressed in high-level policy positions that the continent has aligned with, be it African Union Agenda 263, AMSEN, the SDG is an Agenda 2030, you near resolutions and national level steps where 19 countries have legally enforceable ambient air quality standards. This however, only about 25% compliance compared to 63% in the global average and a lot remains to be done. And since we know that what gets measured, get done, we now have the integrated assessment of air pollution and climate change for Africa's sustainable development before us. Its analysis lays the integrated and compounded risk post by air pollution and climate change towards the realization of the sustainable development goals and the opportunities and the gaps to be filled towards some mounting this risk and enhancing the realization of the SDGs. At the heart of these assessment is the implementation of 37 measures across five key areas, transport, residential energy, energy agriculture on West to fight climate change, to prevent air pollution and protect human health and the environment. Similarly, these can be achieved and these are aligned with the United Nations Environment Program MTS and now we can implement them leveraging on everyone's ability and now I'll leave you with some points that I think are needed for the implementation. The first is that we must prioritize low-hanging fruits. In each of the five areas, there are some accessible measures that a continent can start off to build on ready successes within countries and across the entire continent. For example, in transport, the measure of cleaner existing transport is one that has continued to see countries achieve success with fuel and vehicular emission standards. We need to prioritize cross-learnings where successes in countries and regions are transplanted to become another exception. And at the same time, e-vehicles, which pertain significant future investment opportunities for the continent are yet another area where we see some countries formulating e-vehicle standards and relevant infrastructure development, including innovative aspects like greening, the off-grid for charging infrastructure beyond transport, under residential energy. Clean cooking is a key area that is unlocking very accessible opportunities to waste recovery, to clean cooking, which is creating accessible enterprises, including for young people in the continent. For instance, when we substitute Chaco with fuel buckets, this presents an opportunity to tough into an over 20 billion year enterprise opportunities in the continent. And we see opportunities being unlocked through UNEP's work in the region. The second aspect that needs to be taken into consideration is we must premise these 37 actions as investment opportunity and diverse from the narrative that premises environmental action as a social action alone and start premising it as an investment opportunity. For example, investing in solar power projects in Africa has been shown to generate between 10 to 30% in annual returns while mitigating emissions and pollution sources. Such opportunities need to be projected through the translation of climate actions that combat pollution as stipulated in the NDCs into investment plans. A clear elucidation of financial returns on investments that can accrue to any act or informal, formal, individual, institutional who implement the 37 measures need to be done in the form of investment plans for each of the 37 measures. And that takes me to the third point, which is we must leverage on innovative financing to cover financing gap. An investment plan is not complete without a clear financing strategy. Currently, as we speak today, only 14% of Africa's climate finance comes from the private sector, which is the lowest of any region in the world. Increasing the share of these private sources is an urgent need and calls for embracing of innovative financing solutions among the most promising and resharing facilities unlocking private sector sources call for a need to de-risk financing of climate action enterprise solutions that address pollution, credit guarantee schemes from government to cover private sector lenders against default risk when financing climate action is a critical de-risking strategy that should be leveraged to accompany any established investment facility. The fourth is to tap into the youth and the informal sector. Up to 80% of the continent's working population is engaged in the informal sector. And over 60% of them are youthful. And I think we've argued is over and over again, you can only be able to leverage on your strength to drive transformational climate action and pollution actions in the continent. Africa's strength is high youth. Africa's strength is high youth and leveraging on the abilities becomes the implementation strategy of leveraging these 37 measures that are most accessible, such as clean cooking. And two of the most critical incentives that can be put in place are skills retooling for these young people. To enable them to be able to learn these skills, to require the skilled personnel to engage in enterprises aligned to the measures and affordable financing which can be realized through the de-risking tools. The fifth is policy harmonization. Implementing the 37 measures through an enterprise lens require coherent actions cutting across diverse sectors. On agriculture, one of the actions in research is improve manual management, which is critical to controlling maternity missions. However, such actions also contribute to waste. Where bar gas from compost is prioritized and to avoid overlaps in investments actions, such complementarity will need to be harmonized. Such that investments in bar digesters to manage waste also targets the agricultural sector to recover the cultural waste and clean cooking to ensure bar gas supply to close the clean energy, clean cooking gap. And these calls for coherent policy incentives across this company, meant three measures and areas. As we face this monumental challenge of climate change and pollution, you can feel like we are standing in front of a giant wave ready to knock us down. But we are not alone in this trouble. Like a supportive cycle of friends, we must stand together and lift each other up as we take action. We are 37 majors before us today. And they set us not only as tools, they are like keys that can unlock a brighter future for all. So let's harness our collective strength, our institutional strengths and draw back our goals to aim for that better tomorrow. Together we can create a healthier and more sustainable world for everyone. Thank you. And have a great discussion. Thank you so much, Dr. Munan. And for your very inspiring words, please also express our appreciation to Dr. Kuretung and the UNEP regional office. I'm informed that Dr. Nyambi is still unable to join because there's actually an African Union summit going on. So I think he's still held up if he joins along the way we will have him give some remarks. In the meantime, let me hand over to our co-ordinating co-chair, Dr. Alice Koudia to take us through the next session. Dr. Koudia. Thank you very much, Philip. And thank you so much for moderating that session. Welcome to all of us. I think one of our team members said we should share the program online for some time. Kevin, do you have it? We could just have a look where we are in the next segment of this meeting. I must say it is very exciting that we are all here. Kindly just enlarge it a little bit, Kevin. And we are now in the second segment and reading from listening to the policy level opening remarks. We pick a few key words which come and these are partnerships because we already have partnerships on air quality across Africa. As Man said, 10 years ago, with the support from Stockholm Environment Institute, air quality agreements were developed for the Sadaq region, Eastern Africa region, Western Africa region, the Maghreb, and all these are in place. But at the time, the focus was really on preventing atmospheric air pollution to help us have healthy environment, healthy people. But the climate lens was not in place. At the moment, I would say, starting with the Paris Agreement being in place and the NDCs in place, there has been a stronger focus on the air pollution climate change nexus. And I think the Africa Integrated Assessment on Air Pollution and Climate Change has actually grounded the science on the links between air pollution and climate change. So moving forward in this segment, what do we want to do? We want to learn lessons from various experiences on how we can work together in partnerships to tackle air pollution and climate change in Africa. And to begin with, we are very delighted to have been joined by David Ombisi of the Secretariat of African Ministerial Conference on Environment. And David will take us through the experience of AMSEN and we'll draw some lessons from that on partnerships. Remember, we are working on partnerships and the lessons that are there to inform how we can move forward in developing the Africa Plenia Program. Kindly, David, take the floor. Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Alice. I hope you can hear me. Yes, we can. Yeah, thank you very much. And thank you, colleagues and all the distinguished guests who have spoken before me. My name is David Ombisi as you've been told. I'm the Coordinate of the AMSEN Secretariat which is based at UNEP's Region Office for Africa. For those who are new to this, AMSEN is the African Ministerial Conference on Environment. And this has been in existence for the last 38 years since 1985, basically to promote regional cooperation in addressing environmental issues that continue to confront the Afghan region. So I'll start maybe just two minutes to give a little background in terms of what AMSEN is and the role of AMSEN and then, of course, go into a little more with regard to decisions that have been made by AMSEN that impact on issues related to integrated assessment. Now, as I mentioned, AMSEN meets regularly. We have regular sessions of AMSEN that are held every two to three years. But in addition to that, there are other special sessions that are convened to consider specific issues of interest or of concern to the region. AMSEN works very closely with the African Union through the Commission for Rural Economy, Agriculture, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment. As I mentioned already, the Secretariat is based at UNEP's Region Office for Africa in Nairobi here. And UNEP being Secretariat provides both technical and financial support to the operations of AMSEN. Of course, the member states do also contribute to the AMSEN trust fund, which is used to facilitate the implementation of the AMSEN decisions and other AMSEN activities. In terms of the running of AMSEN itself, it has a president and four bureau members. Currently, the presidency is with the Senegal and we have four bureau members from Mauritania, from Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Botswana. And these are elected at every regular session of AMSEN. It's on a rotational basis. So every two years we get a new bureau and to new, that's the president and vice presidents. Quickly in terms of the role of AMSEN as in addition to promoting collaboration among African countries, it does provide leadership by promoting awareness and consensus on both regional and global environmental issues. AMSEN also supports or provides a platform for member states from the African region to develop common positions that guide African representatives, particularly in global negotiations related to legally binding environmental agreements. In addition to that, AMSEN also supports African countries, participation in international dialogue on various global issues of importance to Africa. For example, the United Nations Environment Assembly where the engagement of Africa is undertaken under the leadership of the AMSEN presidency. In addition to that, we have a number of activities and policy and strategic issues that are led by AMSEN for the benefit of the continent. Now I wanted to touch a little bit in terms of some of the previous AMSEN decisions, particularly as they relate to the issue of integrated assessment, particularly with regard to pollution and climate change. And I'll go back as probably 10 years back during the 14th session of AMSEN in 2012 through decision 14-5, where AMSEN agreed to support capacity building of African countries in thematic and integrated environmental assessment and reporting. Later on, that was three years later in 2015, at the 15th session of AMSEN, which took place in Cairo, Egypt. Again, AMSEN agreed to enhance air quality monitoring and modeling, and also to develop an Africa-wide air quality framework agreement on air quality management. During the same session, AMSEN also agreed to enhance air quality management in Africa, particularly in the areas of policies, legislation, institutional framework, management systems, public awareness, capacity building, and networking. And finally, during the same session in 2015, AMSEN requested UNEP, of course, with other partners to support the capacity building of African countries in thematic and integrated environmental assessment and reporting. Later on, at the 16th session, which took place in 2017 in Libreville, Gabon, the ministers committed to improving management of air, both indoor and outdoor, and of course, also the control of other forms of pollution through the strengthening of knowledge management, which of course also includes assessments. They did commit to strengthening the management of pollution aspects, internalizing pollution costs and creating awareness, as well as improving management of persistent organic pollutants. More importantly, at the 17th session in 2019, and basically, which laid the foundation to this particular forum and partnership that we gathered here today, AMSEN emphasized the benefits of improving air quality, including managing as appropriate and reducing short-lived climate pollutants in the environment. At that session in Daban, AMSEN noted the need for an assessment of linkages between policies to address air pollution and policies to address climate change. As has already been stated by Philip and Martina as well, at the resumed 18th session of AMSEN, which was held in Dhaka last September, we launched the report on integrated assessment of air pollution and climate change for sustainable development in Africa, which of course was a response to the AMSEN decision, 17 slash two that had been adopted in 2019 in Daban. Now, the AMSEN meeting in Dhaka noted the findings of the report on the integrated assessment of air pollution climate change. And as has been mentioned by my colleague Richard as well, this report urged countries to support the development and implementation of 37 recommended measures as a continent-wide Africa Clean Air Program, of course coordinated with strong country-led initiatives. So this gives you a background in terms of previous AMSEN decisions that are related to air pollution and climate change. Of course, there are those other decisions that are specific to climate change, including NDCs and so forth, which I didn't want to go into for the benefit of time, but also trying to focus to our objectives for this meeting today. Now, moving forward, one of the things that was noted by AMSEN, looking at the decisions that were made previously and specifically the decisions that were made during the 17th session and the 18th session, it was noted that the continent and African countries in specific continue to face difficulties or constraints in implementing the decisions of AMSEN. And therefore the ministers agreed that there was a need to take action to accelerate implementation of past and current AMSEN decisions. Of course, as part of those measures in Dhaka, AMSEN agreed to collaborate now with the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in Forging Collective Efforts and Actions. In addition to that, the ministers agreed to the establishment of the Forum of Environment Protection Agencies in Africa, which would help in terms of sharing experiences, sharing knowledge, sharing best practices and be able to advance the implementation of AMSEN decisions. As I've mentioned, this had been noted to be a challenge whereby there are so many decisions that had been taken by AMSEN previously, but most of them were not fully implemented. So in addition to that, in Dhaka, the ministers agreed to, you know, or call upon the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa and other stakeholders to be part and contribute to the implementation of AMSEN decisions. In that vein as well, it was noted that environmental issues are too large to be addressed by any single entity but rather required concerted efforts by all sectors. As you'll see from the implementation of this particular decision on integrated assessment on air pollution climate change, it's now bringing together various stakeholders, partners, institutions to be able to contribute to the implementation of this particular initiative. And therefore it was noted again by AMSEN that AMSEN decisions require enhancing partnerships. And I believe that this is part of what we'll be discussing here today at both national and regional levels and including with local authorities, with development partners, with the private sector and all other relevant institutions. Now, when you look back, and this is maybe something for us to ponder as we move forward in the implementation of this particular initiative, most of the member states do need support in terms of implementation of AMSEN decisions, particularly areas of those decisions where responsibilities have been placed on the member states. You realize that most of the member states do not have the capacity on their own to be able to do that. And therefore they look forward or they look up to different partners and stakeholders to come in and support the implementation of these particular decisions. There's also need to support now that we'll be having the forum of environment protection agencies, which of course play a critical role in ensuring the monitoring, the enforcement, the compliance of national, regional, global environmental commitments as appropriate. And they do require support in terms of building their capacity to be able to undertake these responsibilities at the national level. And please also to share with you that we'll be having the first meeting of the forum of environment protection agencies on the 7th and 8th of March in Kigali, Rwanda, where we are going to bring together the heads of these EPAs to be able to start engaging among themselves and also sharing some of the challenges and difficulties that they continue to encounter in the course of their work, particularly with monitoring, enforcement and implementation of the various commitments. And of course, we'll be looking to different partners to be able to come in and support these EPAs in their mandate. We also need to support member states and the APS of course, to promote the interpretation and the utilization of scientific data and information. As you all realize, I mean, we do have, for example, the report and the assessment, but when it comes to being able to, or at the national level for these or the outcomes of these assessments, the interpretation of the outcomes of these assessments, I think there is need to support the member states and those authorities that do work on them to be able to understand what the data means and how they can use that information, particularly for policymaking and other decision making, as well as planning for the development of their member states. So in conclusion, just sharing in terms of how we move forward, particularly from the AMSEN perspective and particularly with regard to reporting now back on the various decisions. For the last two AMSEN sessions, the ministers or AMSEN committed to taking measures to make sure that we are able to evaluate progress in the implementation of the AMSEN decisions and of course also taking into consideration any other emerging issues that would need to be brought to the attention of the ministers. And therefore, as a secretariat, we are working with the various stakeholders on the follow-up of the various decisions that have been adopted by AMSEN. And of course, I'm pleased to see that one of such a follow-up is through this forum that we are having today, particularly with regard to the decision on integrated assessment of air pollution and climate change, of course, which will then be reporting back to AMSEN in terms of its progress and implementation. And part of that reporting also we do to the AMSEN through the AMSEN Bureau meetings being able to report back to the Bureau in terms of the progress. And of course also highlighting any challenges that might be encountered along the way such that the Bureau can then give direction in terms of how we can improve on the implementation of the various decisions. We also do share this information by way of reporting to the Afghan Union through the Specialized Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment, which of course then is also taken through the institutional structures of the Afghan Union up to the Afghan Union Summit and of course where necessary getting endorsement from the Afghan heads of state at the summit. We also in terms of reporting and tracking, shared information, particularly with the Afghan Diplomatic Co in Nairobi, that's the ambassador as representing the various African member states in Nairobi as well as those who are based in Addis Ababa, just to make sure that they are up to speed with regard to where we stand on the implementation of the various AMSEN decisions. And final of course, the main one is reporting back to AMSEN during the regular session when we report on implementation of the various decisions as well as highlighting any other relevant activities that might have taken place in the context of implementing those decisions. So that's the mode of or mode as apparently in terms of how we handle the AMSEN decisions, particularly with regard to the implementation and reporting back to the various structures as well as to the member states with regard to where we stand. As I mentioned, of course, implementation was identified as a major constraint in terms of the decisions and we are looking forward to working with all the partners and relevant stakeholders to make sure that there's an improvement in terms of not only just adopting decisions, but making sure that they are fully implemented to the benefit of the region. So I think I'll stop there and perhaps if there is any question or clarification that you might require me to come back to then I can do that shortly because I have to check out into another meeting, unfortunately. So thank you and back to you, Alice. Thank you, David. That is great. Thank you for sharing with us the long history of efforts by African ministers to tackle the challenges of air pollution, initially with the lens on environmental, but more increasingly as per Decision 18-4, strengthening focus on air pollution and particularly reduction of short-lived climate pollutants. Now, you have illustrated to us how it's important to have structures for reporting, monitoring and reporting and evaluating performance. And we're very glad that at this inaugural meeting we are all going to work towards working together and seeing that the decision is implemented. Having said that, we know that you are tight with time. So I'm encouraging members in the House to just keep their questions and comments in the chat so that we can pick as much as possible and then we can get David to address them before he leaves us. And as you do that and in the interest of time, we would wish also to invite Mr. David Indassi of C-40 Cities, as you know, in Africa, we are an increasingly urbanizing continent and with that comes the challenge of scarcity of natural resources that support human life and pollution that also occurs concurrently. So Victor, please you're welcome to share with us. Your experience from the safety perspective. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much, Madam Chair, as you heard from Madam Chair, Victor Indassi. And I'm here today representing our regional director for Africa, Mr. Hastings, who could not be here because of other work commitments. So allow me to share my screen please. Yeah, so for C-40 is a network of mayors of nearly 100 world living cities collaborating to address the issues of climate change. And in Africa, this network of mayors is made up of around 13 mayors spread across West, South and East Africa. In West Africa, it's a network of five cities. I'll be talking about more about the cities in a few. And then in South Africa, it's a network of five cities. Together, three cities from East Africa making it 13 cities in Africa. So I'll be giving our experiences working in those cities to address air pollution issues and also climate change. But for this particular presentation, I'll be dwelling more on air pollution. But just to mention that C-40 does run also a lot of climate change initiatives in these cities. Also, I also want to mention that I'm not alone on this call from C-40. I have two of my colleagues, Simon and Tabebu. So if you have any questions while I'm talking, please just put in chat and they'll be addressed as I continue presenting. Thank you. So yeah, the reason why we address air pollution, obviously we are guided by air pollution, air quality goal, which is supporting cities reduce impacts of health and climate to meet the WHO guidelines and also meet the commitments addressed in the Paris Agreement. So to do so, we run our programs based on three themes. One is increasing access to data sets. The second theme is also evidencing these data sets so that we have evidence-based policies and policymaking. And the third is supporting mayoral leadership to set ambitious goals to address both air pollution and climate change in these cities. So to do so, what we run is, first of all, a commitment program, which this city is signed to and these commitments are intended to address various aspects of air pollution mainly for this presentation but also climate change. And some of these ambitious commitments include establishing baselines in those cities and then also creating new policies that address pollution and making also data and policies publicly available to show progress both in addressing rising pollution levels and also policies that are enacted to address those pollution concerns. So these are voluntary membership and cities do commit themselves to these commitments voluntarily. So I'll quickly talk more about the program that we are running currently. So this is shifting gears to a solution space. It's a program called African Cities for Clean Air. It's a three-year program that started last year and going on to next year. This program is anchored on four goals. One of them is addressing the data needs within the cities to address the data gaps. And then we also do work on policies so to identify or create evidence data evidence policies across Africa to address both air pollution and climate change knowing that those two are like conjointments that cannot be separated. So approach is based on three, five stages. First of all is to connect cities so that cities that are advanced can share their experiences with cities that are not so advanced. Then capacity building and to do this, there is what you call taking consistent programs to address various air pollution concerns within these cities. And how we do that is the cities identify private areas that they wish to be addressed. And then through the program, we provide technical assistance that also builds awareness around air pollution or air quality. And with these four, the goal is to inspire mayors to take bold actions to address both pollution and climate change. So in terms of progress for this particular program, the program runs in five cities, but the bigger air quality program runs in 11 of the 13 cities. And this has to do with an issue that I already mentioned at the start where cities voluntarily commit themselves to those various targets. So cities that don't commit themselves, obviously are not forced to and so they're not included in the program. So these 11 cities that we're currently working on, five are in West Africa, two in East Africa and three in South Africa. So out of those 11 cities, type of them we are currently rolling out what you're calling technical assistance program and that's in Dhaka, Lagos, Abisababa, Johannesburg and Daban and I'll be talking more to that in my next slides. And also to address the issue of capacity, the program has regional technical advisors that work closely in these cities to identify these priority areas and also scope for solutions to address those priorities that are identified in these cities. So just to mention that in the five cities that I mentioned, cities identified various pressing goals or pressing needs that the program could help address or they could use the program to try and create solutions. Some of these are active programs and some of them have not initiated. So I'll quickly give examples for interest of those who are here and who wish to collaborate with C40 to address some of this. So we have active calls for proposals, RFPs request for proposals in four of the five cities. So in Lagos, obviously the city identified the data as an issue and there we are running a program to increase the data monitoring network and also develop pollution and health inventories, data inventories. In Adisababa, there's a program to develop a building energy efficiency code. And then in Johannesburg, we'll be running a program to develop the first ever low emission zone in Africa. And then in Daban, it's a policy to ban use dirty fuels in the city. And then in Dakar, which is coming soon, it's a program to develop the first ever city specific data, air quality data management plan. So anybody on call who wish to partner with us to address some of this, the calls are open and they are open to anyone. We are not restricted by geographical locations so anybody can partner with us as we try to address some of these challenges that have been identified by the cities. And as a summarize, you cannot separate climate and pollution. So we need to address air pollution and climate change as connected issues that cannot be separated. And we need swift and precedented and collaborative action to be able to address the sources of pollution that are harmful to our health and warming our planet. With that, I think you and if time allows Madam Chair can take a question but if it doesn't then we'll be addressing some of those in chat. Thank you so much. You are muted, sorry, still muted. Alice, are you there? Phillip? We can't hear you, Alice. There you are. Can you hear me? Yes, you're back. Okay, I think it was just a microphone but I was just saying thank you to Victor for sharing that experience of C40 cities with us. And as we have said, if there are any questions, please, we can take them on the chat just because of the interest of time. But Victor, we do plead that you'll be with us to the end of the program so that if we have questions at the end we can still address them to you. We are also informing the participants that any comments, any questions you put in the chat if we can't address them in this forum. This is just an inaugural forum and we'll continue with this conversation. We are already a community of practice here. So we move on even as we wait for the questions. We know that in Africa, I think has been as was presented during the opening session and when you take the presentation from David Ombisi of the Amsens Secretariat, the regional economic communities of Africa have had this air quality agreements from way back 10 years ago, 2008 and so on. But we experience shows that we have had a rather small or limited application or action on these air quality agreements. And here in this session, we are briefly going to share in a very, very open way. And this is now open to even participants to put their voice on as to how can we move on to strengthen these regional programs in particular to infuse the lens of climate change and be able to have clean air for Africa. We also note that unlike the climate change challenge that we have globally, that has got a global target agreed upon, that is the 1.5 degrees target with very, very clear earmarked years by 2030, we are supposed to do this by 2050, we should be at zero emissions or something like that. We do not have a similar target on partnerships or actions which are specifically looking at air quality, air pollution and climate change in the nexus. So the question we have to ourselves and this is open to all of us during this session is how do we move forward? For example, can the regional agreements that we have be the anchor points for the initiative that we are trying to create through this process for Africa to have clean air? Or do we think that as scientists, as policymakers, as practitioners in the air pollution and climate change nexus, we need to have an Africa-wide clean air program which is more or less packaged on its own. But I think that question, although I'm posing it, David Ombisi will tell me that yes, the ministers were already decided that we should have a program that is covering the continent, but how do we strengthen the regional economic communities? My colleagues who are in this call or in this conference, I think we are open to augment the phrasing that have already presented for this particular session. Yes, I stopped there. We were expecting to get a specific presentation from ECOWAS, but we do note that the EAC, ECOWAS, SADAC, the Northern Africa regions already have these air quality programs in place. Comments and questions are welcome. Maybe, Kevin, you may stop sharing the screen. So I am moderating, but at the same time posing this challenge to all of us who are on board. Any experiences which are more specific to a particular region is welcome just for two, three minutes per person. I'm looking for hands up. It may not be just the persons who are from the African region, but anybody who has worked on air pollution and climate change in this region. Hello? We can hear you. You can hear me, but the room is very loudly silent. Maybe post the question again. The question that we have is, this is now with regards to our regional air quality agreements, maybe I speak more slowly so that we articulate what the challenge is. I think when you listen to the presentation from David Ombisi and when we also listen to Man's presentation regarding the earlier efforts to have clean air in Africa. We have had a lot of investments, may I say, to help Africa come up with regional air quality agreements. We also have regional programs with a focus on enabling Africa to have clean air. What can we say? Are we able to make any suggestions in terms of improvements that are needed to effectively implement these air quality agreements or implement an action plan that will focus on air quality in Africa? Just suggestions. Dr. Alice, I see Jerry, his hand is up. OK, Jerry. OK, Jerry, please take the floor followed by Resa. Thank you very much, Dr. Kaudia. And thank you, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. So on the matter that you put to the floor, Dr. Kaudia, what I would like to say is that in my view, we may need to take these regional agreements a little one step further than what they are. If I am not wrong, I think these agreements were basically agreements put together through the support of different partners, and particularly ACI, but then it was merely agreements between ministers for environment. So to that extent, in my view, and I start to correct it, they do not have any binding force of law behind them. And therefore, more or less, you know, gentlemen's agreements at the level of environment ministers. And I suspect that's perhaps why these agreements haven't moved to implementation. So I would suggest, you know, that that's a matter that is taken up now that there is the initiative through AMSEN to have an Africa-wide look at this. Perhaps this could become an Africa-wide treaty or agreement, whatever you want to call it, under the AU, or, you know, they could be, you know, treaty-based agreements under the respective treaty-based regional subblocks. So that's really, you know, what I would suggest. Number two, also taking up from David on BC in terms of, you know, implementation, enforcement and compliance, perhaps, you know, we could also work with the existing forums within the different subregions. For example, in East Africa, there is in existence the East Africa network for environmental compliance and enforcement, of which our organization, ECI, happens to be the secretariat. And this forum brings, it's an informal forum, but brings together, you know, the EPS and other players, including civil society, academy and others. And one of the thematic areas that this forum seeks to work around in East Africa is the matter of equality. So in terms of capacity building, institutional strengthening and that, you know, I would suggest that we work with, you know, existing forums like this and others in other subregions. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. You have brought up a very important aspect, which is a gap, must I say, in the sense that, yes, we have been working more at the intergovernmental level, inter-ministerial level. We have not been inclusive enough to bring on board the civil society, local communities, the private sector, philanthropies, foundations. As was said at the beginning, we cannot, no single institution can tackle air quality or support management of air pollution and the climate change in an excess. So we take that on board possibility of having a treaty. So we move forward. Our next respondent is Riza, followed by Makange. Makange saw your hand up and then you have put it down. But Riza, please have the floor. Thank you so much. Good day all. So mine is more just, more comment, maybe just for going forward. But I think a lot of it comes down also to the lack of data that we could use in these assessment periods and in mitigation areas because we don't have reliable data. So a conversation around how we work around this, not just using modeled data, but also maybe access to local sensors across different regions in Africa and access to that data for scientists to expand on that. Okay, thank you very much, Riza. Yes, data is a recurrent problem. I saw another hand up, but it has gone down. Oh, you put it down, okay. No, it goes down by itself. Okay, Makange. Okay, please take the floor. Yeah, mine is just to agree with Jerry what he said. That was Jerry Opondo. And for me, I'm looking at the issue of information. Even as much as we talk about these issues, sometimes they remain up there. And I've seen it even in other areas of climate change. Does this information go down to the other people who are supposed to use this information? And therefore for me, I would like to agree with him. For example, in many areas, if you talk of Agenda 2063, people respond to it or they know what it's all about. So an Africa-wide thing is quite okay. And together with this, the issue of information, how do we implement capacity development so that matters concerning climate, matters concerning air quality do not remain at the top, but they move down to the lower levels. Thank you. Alice, are you still there? Oh yes, I'm here. I was just saying thank you, Makanji, for highlighting the need for us to reach the grassroots communities because they are the real beneficiaries of our scientific and policy work. Any other comments? Any other input on action moving forward? Yeah, Alice, can you hear me okay? I can hear you. We have a few comments in the chat. So Samuel Acholla has said that he was an undergraduate 23 years ago. And even then, the two burning issues in Africa were the lack of data and capacity building for Africa. So he's saying, has Africa been asking the right questions? So that's one thing. And then Muwai Shadad asked, in the context of climate change, what exactly does air pollution mean? So we've got those two comments coming through the chat. Grace, that's what I think. Yes, Adriana. Yes, hi, sorry. In case there are French speakers that would like to narrate their questions in French, this Anderson and Gongang remain available to translate. So I guess maybe the chair, if you could give Gongang an opportunity to just say that, so that we also be inclusive of our French speakers. Thank you. Great, Adriana. Thanks. That is why we are a team. You see how teams work in Africa? That's how to move forward. Gongang, please pick up the questions that have been presented and let us have the French version so that our French speaking team members can also benefit. Thank you. Gongang. Okay, Alice, thank you very much. As well, we are currently discussing the subject of investments that have been made in Africa. So Alice is asking the question to know what can be the proposals about your experience in the French countries? In your countries, for example, what do you think can be done to be able to advance the agenda in terms of the cathedrals in Africa, maybe in the West or in your countries or in Africa in general? So there are questions about the lack of data that are listed and that are a problem. So if you have a question, do you think or do you propose about that? Don't hesitate to give us a message so that we can give you the opportunity to talk about it. So that's what we are discussing. Thank you, Alice. Thank you, Alice. Gongang. Thank you very much. So we make progress. I think in terms of investing time on this section, is there any other input? Remember, this is a collective space for us to present ideas on how we can strengthen action on air pollution, climate change, nexus. OK, thank you very much. I think one of the key challenges that were presented during the input in this regional experiences session was that the decisions are made high up there. The ministers make the decisions. The policy makers have the policies formulated, but we are not reaching down to the real beneficiaries of science and policy. So in our next segment, we are delighted to invite Arnold Kipchumba to give us a case experience on a project that tackled reduction of short-lived climate pollutants in Kenya. And this was just a case experience so that we are also able to get some gist of what happens at the sub-national level or at the national level. Kipchumba, if you're in the house, please take the floor. We can see your screen, Arnold. Yeah, thank you so much for that, Alice, I really appreciate. And thank you so much for the invitation to participate in this forum. Of course, I want to extend my gratitude to the African Union Commission. It's my video on. We can hear you, Kipchumba, and we can see. OK, yeah, perfect. Excellent. So extending my gratitude to the African Union Commission, the Stockholm Environment Institute, the UNEP Regional Office, and CCAC, for convening this partnership forum to discuss part of the 37 measures that were highlighted in the Integrated Assessment for Air Pollution Climate Change for Sustainable Development in Africa. So my name is Arnold Kipchumba. I'm a Deputy Director in Charge of Green Economy at the Office of the First Lady in the Republic of Kenya. Before then, I was a project professor for the Kenya SLCB project that sought to understand the scale and status of short-lived climate pollutants and the effect it has on air quality, climate change, and women's health in Kenya. This is a project that was being implemented under the auspices of the Joyful Women Organization, which is an institution that is under the patronage of high excellency. The second lady of the Republic of Kenya then, and the first lady of the Republic of Kenya now. And the reason why she was interested in supporting this project was ideally by the fact that in traditional African societies, Kenya, for example, it's women who bear the bigger grant when it comes to climate change. When it comes to what energy needs, it's women who go out there to look for energy. And when it comes to cooking, it's women who spend most time with their children in their kitchens exposing themselves to health damaging pollutants, such as PM2.5, PM10, and black carbon. So this is why it became an interest to the first lady, the second lady then, I keep on interchanging that, to support this project. And some of the objectives that we're looking at was one to quantify black carbon, PM2.5, PM10, and establishing the impacts on climate change, health, and air quality in Kenya. Also, we were modeling the spatial dispersal of the Hekila emissions, pollutants, and mapping populations at risk in Nairobi and in Nakano City Council. Also, we just wanted to have an understanding in terms of what is the legislative and institutional framework looking like when it comes to management and reduction of short-lived climate pollutants. More importantly also was to strengthen the capacity of sub-national entities, as maybe some of you might not be aware, Kenya has a devolved system of governance where there's a national government and 47 sub-national entities. Just so this project also sought to have that discussion with sub-national entities in terms of if they understand what short-lived climate pollutants is at the beginning and if they're planning processes, decision-making and financing also supports reduction of short-lived climate pollutants. The other objective was to engage civil society organizations in terms of just educating and just getting to have a feel if they understand what short-lived climate pollutants are, and then also recommending strategies on how to strengthen the integration of short-lived climate pollutants into the NDCs at the national level. So this just highlights the partners that you are working with. Of course, Joyful Women Organization under the patronage of the First Lady of Kenya now. And the reason why we were using Joyful Women Organization is just to reach out to grassroots communities through the network that HiExcelency is engaging with who are organized in groups. And then also Kenya Meteorological Department, they were supporting the project in terms of measurements and also the pontification of the PM2.5, PM10 and Black Carbon and also the Kenya Meteorological Society. The Council of Governors as a collaborative institution as a liaison to the 47 county governments and also Fredric Amadstiff who were supporting us to mobilize the civil society organizations and educating them on just getting their feel if they understand what short-lived climate pollutants are and what should be the strategies and priorities that the country should take. So with the project actively during the review process of the NDC, we submitted a memoranda on the review of the Kinept at NDC in 2020. And we are glad to say that inclusion of SLCPs as part of the gases were covered. And the NDC, of course, in consistency with IPCC guidelines. And also maybe not clearly, but at least it's there, inclusion of just transition as a concept for climate and also covered in the revised NDCs submitted through NACCCC. So with the study, some of the opportunities that we saw is that of course the continent has a huge opportunity to develop sustainably, improve human well-being and protect nature by investing in solutions to fight climate change and air pollution together. Just looking at the corporate benefits when it comes to reduction of short-lived climate pollutants in health, in agriculture, in transport, in education. And then also that sub-national entities play a complementary role to national governments by enacting local and regional policies and regulations and ensuring that the sources of air pollution are compliant. But I think more importantly for us and what we found out is that then the sub-national entities can even raise more ambitious targets and goals when it comes to air quality management and even the regulations when it comes to some of the major pollutants. So I think that's a low-hanging opportunity and we have more focus and more attention if we are to reach the professional level and more impact on the health. Of course, also CS was a more direct dialogue. So engaging in advocacy. So just having those conversations of course with governments, with the people and giving a voice to the most vulnerable groups in this case would be women and children and then promoting accountability and promoting a participatory and inclusive disaster risk reduction. So yeah, so with the Kenya SLCP project, we are now transitioning with the lessons learned now transitioning into larger scale. And that's why this participatory forum convened is very critical. And so from the objectives that we were implementing in the Kenya SLCP project, the project has now adopted a more strategic, what we are calling thematic areas of focus to scale up some of the lessons learned in the first phase. And one of the thematic areas, policy, research and development, just continuously engaging in policy, dialogues and conversations and research and Stockholm environment is a great job. So it would be a good partner and development. And then the second thematic area of focus is development of models, scenarios and databases to just provide data. And Kevin was just alluding to what one of the participants was mentioning that he's been in university 23 years ago and they still a data gap in Africa. So just continuously doing that work. And I know the integrated assessment on air pollution and climate change has done an impressive job of creating models and scenarios with the business as usual and also using Agenda 2063 and NDCs. But just continuously engaging and updating that database to inform decision-making. And then of course, gender and health system strengthening and also institutional strengthening. Ideally for us, we are looking at just continuing with the great work that we did with sub-national entities and civil society organizations, but then maybe at this level, engaging at the African level. Of course, with the Africa Union Commission and AMSEN and the regional economic blocks to just engage in these conversations and prioritizing some of this mitigation and strategy that we can use to reduce short-lived climate pollutants, but more importantly, strategic communication and outreach. So in terms of how do you communicate all this amazing work that, for example, CCSE has done with integrated assessment and just communicating that to different policy makers, institutions, the most affected, how is that communicated? In terms of timelines, so we are just transitioning from the Kenya SLCP and getting into the Africa SLCP, but more importantly, because of the interests of our excellency, then is also placing us also as a convener or a global ambassador in terms of rallying countries and other fast ladies on reducing short-lived climate pollutants. So that's a conversation that we are having with CCSE in terms of how do we position the fast lady? How does she also mobilize other fast ladies and member states to rally behind and give a voice towards reduction of short-lived climate pollutants? So with my new role and where I sit now is that the objective of the first lady of Kenya is to inspire a women-led climate action that reduces vulnerability to climate-related events and improve the adaptive capacity of society to climate shocks through green economy. I think also just to take us back is that, it is the work that we did with the Kenya SLCP project that created some interest of our fast lady here to focus on environment and climate action. And her main role, again, as was mentioned, is to inspire women-led climate action. So how do you place women at the forefront in terms of climate mitigation and adaptation? And so under the office, we have some programmatic flagships that will be implemented, but more importantly, that address some of the priority action measures that are also identified under the integrated assessment on air pollution and climate change. So under the office, some of the programs that will be running, of course, is promotion of clean cooking and lighting. So supporting to transition, especially rural communities, to cleaner sources of cooking and also lighting. So we're also exploring use of biopethanol. So the amazing work that Open Networks, for example, is doing in Kenya. So how can that be scaled up, especially to reach informal settlement areas, people in informal settlement areas and rural households to use cleaner sources of cooking. But more importantly, also using community health volunteers to advocate for a doctrine of clean cooking technologies and also to sort of educate the community about the harmful effects of household air pollution and what it means. So we are looking to engage the CHVs across the country to raise awareness and education about the harmful effects of household air pollution. Also, making of briquettes for cooking and heating. So we're looking at supporting women groups and young people across the country to establish or to catalyze, depending on funding and capacity on our side, briquettes for cooking and heating. And then also carbon capture and storage, as if you're aware, the Kenyan government has committed to an ambitious goal to plan 15 billion trees by 2032. That will increase the forest cover to 30%. Quite an ambitious goal. So the officer of the first lady has also taken a really ambitious target in supporting or complimenting the mainstream government to deliver on one billion trees using different strategies. And ideally, women-led inspired climate action. So the strategy will just focus on women. So supporting women to establish tree nurseries, supporting women to grow green tree commodities like macadamia, car shoes, even gamarabica, keshia senegal. And so this also plays a critical role in terms of the reduction measures that has been identified with the integrated assessment report on transport. The first lady is very passionate about cycling and we are using that tool and that passion of the first lady to advocate for non-mortoise transport systems. So engaging government ministry of transport that desires that are being approved now should have a location for non-mortoise transports for cycling and working. Of course, the first lady is also looking at it from a point of physical fitness and mental wellbeing. But then again, it will be beneficial in terms of emission reduction. And in terms of agriculture, we are looking at engaging these women groups that we will be supporting as it is being done in the National Tree Growing Retrohational Campaign to then use improvement in your management and also maybe back as development for cooking. So these are some of the programs that we're looking to implement under the office of the first lady. And when it comes to waste reduction, we are looking at supporting a few women-led enterprises in Black soldier farming to address organic and food waste problem in the country. So the next steps in terms of then what we are looking is in terms of moving forward is getting on board as many actors to co-design. Some of these mitigation strategies that I've mentioned engage partners and of course look for financing because to be able to implement this, there has to be financing. And then of course supporting the women-led because that is the entry point for excellence is just putting women at the forefront. And then more importantly is that we will be having a regional conference in third and fourth to officially communicate the results of the Kenya SLCP project and then of course, officially launch the Africa SLCP project. So that is as far much as it is for me. Thank you so much for your time. I'll be free to take questions. Thank you so much. Thank you, Arnold. Kindly you may stop sharing your screen, Arnold, if it's okay. Thank you so much. And thank you very much for that presentation. I think it brings us closer home to action in terms of reaching to the grassroots communities. And I think we are in that segment. We have basically completed session two of our program. And in summary, when I look at what we have discussed in this session, some interesting pattern is coming up. Reflecting on what Amson is doing, there has been a lot of emphasis for need for action because there's a lot of history of decisions made and no action taken to implement those ministerial decisions. And there was emphasis to say that this calls for inclusive partnerships. And I would wish to underline inclusive because one of the presenters, one of the members on the floor here also told us that some of these policies are mainly handled at the ministerial level, high level policies, very limited action on the ground. David also emphasis the importance of having a monitoring and evaluation system infrastructure in place. And in this case, it is there for Africa because the monitoring and reporting back on Amson decisions is covered through reporting through to the African union through the specialist technical committee. And those conversations go up to the summit level which is the meeting of heads of states and governments of Africa. When we discussed about cities and Victor strongly showed the big program that C40 cities is having for African cities. The key message I got there is the importance of this network of mayors because you see that there are policy decision makers and action enablers at the city level. And therefore it shows again the importance of the need to pay special attention to cities in Africa as they are as we quickly urbanize as a continent. Our conversation on the regional blocks brought out one key gap and that is the need for a legally binding treaty either at a continental level or at the city or at the regional level. And I think the call to action here is that we need to initiate and move on with the conversation that can make some of the decisions that we make at ministerial level actionable through a legally binding instrument as possible. I know that's a long haul. It can take many, many, many decades but it's always good to get started than waiting to be pushed. The last presentation on Kenya SLCP project has given us a very good example of science policy practice partnership, which is inclusive because there was mention of special interest groups like youth and children. And also the idea of using community health workers as communicators of information, high level policy decisions translated into understandable communication material so that we are able to reach out to these sub-national and I would say even village level actors and beneficiaries of our research and policy. There was also a mention of the Kenya's first lady coming on board as a champion for action on reduction of SLCPs and climate change. And I think that reminded me that one of our team members, Kevin just sent a reminder, which was today and with that reminder, we requested all participants to please give some response to our call on the need if you're interested in joining the community of practice in any of the five areas and also if you'd wish to join the championships. I think in summary, that is what we have had in session two and as we move forward, maybe at this point we may need to take a health break. You may grab and we call it airbaggers in this part of our country when you are actually eating nothing but just taking a rest, but we need a health break. So we will be back in after 15 minutes and that is, we'll be at, would I say, let's be back at 1610 is the Africa time. Is that okay? And when we will come back, just to give you some good excitement about the next session, we'll have first the speech from the African Union Commission, which will be read by Caroline. And please don't miss the speech because again, it will give us a policy direction on how we are moving forward. We will take a very, very short break and thank you so much for your active participation so far. Andriana said, thank you very much on the chat and that we can take a break now. Thank you Alice, see you soon. Enjoy your air coffee, air tea, air bagger. I might go for the real thing. Andriana, I can see you on board. Maybe we try and get started. Excellent, let's do so. Good afternoon, good morning, good evening everyone. Welcome back to the third part of this session and this session is going to be a panel discussion. So I would like to start this session off. This session is a panel discussion which is a critical segment of the consultative forum. The panel discussion will aim to identify means of implementing 37 measures across Africa based on lessons learned from existing partnerships. But before we begin this session, I'd like to ask Caroline if she is online. Caroline will give us the opening remarks on behalf of the African Union Commission. Caroline, please proceed. Good afternoon, good morning, good evening. Can you hear me clearly? Yeah, we can hear you. Nice and clear. Thank you very much. I'm delivering this remarks on behalf of Excellence Ambassador Josefa Sacco, Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment at the African Union Commission. Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honor and pleasure for me to give this remarks at this inaugural partnership forum on integrated action on air pollution and climate change in Africa. I would like to acknowledge and appreciate our partnership with the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, the United Nations Environment Programs Regional Office for Africa and the Stockholm Environment Institute for the works that we have been doing. We've been doing on the integrated assessment of air pollution and climate change for sustainable development in Africa. This work is now culminated into this inaugural partnership forum to come up with an implementation roadmap for the recommendations from the assessment. The integrated assessment showed that if Africa can successfully implement the 37 measures identified, which are already under implementation or planned in some member states, this nationally determined contributions, then up to 800,000 premature deaths can be prevented by 2063 from exposure to outdoor polluted air. Additionally, their implementation will prevent the loss of up to 11% of wheat yields in parts of Africa. The measures have potential to greatly reduce regional climate change in Africa, significantly reducing further desertification and improving food availability. It is important to note that the implementation of the 37 measures can set the continent on a clean development pathway towards realization of the key development priorities of Agenda 26-3, the Africa we want as well as the objectives of the African Union, climate change and resilient development strategy and action plan. Ladies and gentlemen, the 18th session of the African Ministerial Conference on Environment adopted decision 1840, which aged African countries to support further development and implementation of the 37 measures as a continent-wide Africa Clean Air Program coordinated by strong country-led initiatives cascaded to the regional economic communities and higher levels of policies. Considering this, the commission is ready to work with all relevant partners, regional economic communities and member states in coordinating the implementation of the proposed Africa Clean Air Program. Most specifically, the commission will take the lead in mobilization of resources to ensure the development of a continental Clean Air Program to, among other things, strengthen data on air quality and to work with member states to strengthen their national air quality management programs. Furthermore, the commission will explore the establishment of a Convention on Transboundary Air Quality Management in Africa that builds upon the existing regional framework agreements on air pollution led by the regional economic communities. And finally, I just want to thank you all for attending this inaugural partnership forum and look- Caroline, I think we lost you at the end there when you got to- Oh, where did you lose me? I was just about to say, you said, and finally, and then I lost you. I don't know if everyone else did, but I definitely did. Okay, I can read that again. Great. Yes. I thank you all for attending this inaugural partnership forum and look forward to tangible outcomes from this event. This is the time for Clean Air for Africa. I thank you all. Thank you very much, Caroline. We actually had the last statement and it's very important to have that rallying call. So without much ado, I'd like to invite the panel to this discussion. The panel will actually aim to enlighten us on lessons learned from experience with implementation of continental regional programs or projects on air pollution management in specific sectors. How are the challenges addressed if there were challenges encountered? What opportunities exist? What partnerships are involved, but also what partnerships are needed? Who do we need to partner with for an effective continental program on Clean Air? So I would like to invite the panelists and I would like to give you a very short snippet of their bios, which are quite impressive. So I'll start off with Dr. Filippo Sano. Dr. Filippo Sano is the lead from Stockholm Environment Institute in the assessment. He's part of the coordination team that we've been working on since 2019. He's also a center director for the Stockholm Environment Institute African Center. Filippo is an environmental policy expert with diverse research on experience on biodiversity and ecosystem governance, agricultural policy and climate change adaptations. And then we also have online, I noted that we have Dr. Olifonzo Summary. He's from the African Development Bank who is also a partner for the assessment. He is a regional principal officer at the African Development Bank. He leads the bank's work on climate change and green growth in 13 countries in the bank region. He supports countries on access to climate finance for implementing climate actions. And then I would also like to invite Victor Enthusi. Victor Enthusi is a research fellow at the Health Effects Institute. Victor has an MSc in environmental chemistry and has over eight years experience in supporting programs in the implementation of the Global Air Quality Program at UNEP, Economy Division, as well as the Science Division. He has also worked to support implementation of air quality monitoring activities aimed at evaluating related health impacts. So I'll ask each panelist a question to guide the discussion. Please feel free to post questions on the chat which we'll refer to. Each speaker will have five minutes to respond to the question and then we'll open the floor for discussions. Your comments, interventions should be directed by the overarching aim of this session. That is building a roadmap to guide African Union Commission and partners in the coordination of the program Clean Air for Africa. We are standing by to document expressions of interest to lead, champion, support or partner. So I'd like to start off with Dr. Philip Osano. Philip, SAI Africa supports partnerships working with multiple key stakeholders to address major environmental challenges in energy and climate change in East, South and Western African regions. SAI has been instrumental in taking the assessment of which has generated 37 measures across five sectors. What could be the ideal partnership arrangement for an African-wide program on air pollution and climate change? Please proceed, Philip. Thank you. Thank you very much, Andriana. I'll be presenting Dr. Philip Osano for SAI Africa. So just a brief introduction. My name is Anderson Kebula. I'm the program leader for energy and climate change at SAI Africa. So thanks very much, Andriana, for giving me the opportunity to answer this very important question. And to begin with, there's an overview of SAI. So SAI is a leading knowledge institution that work continuously to prioritize research and generating new knowledge on optimal ways in which the environment can be leveraged as a source of practical economic solutions in Africa. So to this end, SAI work in Africa actually focuses on building and strengthening partnerships and I provide four relevant examples here of what we've been doing together with other partners. First of all, SAI worked with the UNEP's regional office of Africa and Africa member states of the UN to publish a report on actions on air quality in Africa which reveals the actions carried out to control emissions of air pollutants in most important sectors, including industry and energy, transport, household energy, as well as forestry and agriculture. In addition, the review actually looks at the legislative and regulatory actions that governments have taken to improve air quality in Africa. Some of the gaps that were identified in the report point to the need to promote partnership with the private sector to scale up the adoption of equipment technologies such as for waste management or clean cooking. So second partnership is that SAI has supported national governments in developing relevant policies, institutional frameworks, as well as technical capacity for effective air quality management around Africa. And more specifically, this stream of work has involved working closely with the climate and clean air coalition in supporting countries to develop national action plans for short-lived climate pollutants. These gaps have contributed towards meeting countries' NDC targets on the Paris argument while also contributing to reducing of air pollution and yielding both health and economic benefits. Third, SAI working in partnership with national and regional institutions have played an instrumental role in the development of the regional framework arguments on air pollution, which can serve as a building block for an African-wide clean air program. Finally, SAI in partnership with UNEP is currently establishing a consortium for better air quality data, which is a platform that seeks to co-design projects and initiative that mobilizing resources to develop national capacity to monitor air quality. The platform go ahead to facilitate exchange of experience as well as knowledge and information among national and international communities to promote some stuff in learning environment. And lastly, this platform seeks to develop collective strategies to upscale practical solutions by leveraging ongoing efforts and expertise to support evidence-based practice. So in a nutshell, these partnerships can be achieved by working with regional policymakers, government agencies, development partners, knowledge producers, the private sector, the private sector as well as local community groups to drive climate and air quality actions as an investment opportunity and a source of socioeconomic development that is championed in high-level member-state policy reforms. Policy forums such as the African Ministerial Conference on Environment, the United Nations Environment Assembly and the African Union as the case with the recently completed reports on actions on air quality in Africa and the integrated assessment of air pollution and climate change for sustainable development in Africa. So these reports are underpinned by strong science that produces knowledge of policy actions with mitigation and adaptation considered as complementary with multiple co-benefits, including but not limited to clean air, green jobs creation, public health benefits as well as biodiversity improvement. However, the middle challenge is translating this adaptation and mitigation policy measures to tested and validated project actions that drive sustainable economic development in Africa. So to conclude, providing technical support to countries to enable them translate their air quality and climate actions into actionable implementation strategies that are capable of attracting market-driven investments by diverse groups, including the youth, the informal sector actors, as well as the private sector is critical for the success of an Africa-wide program on air pollution and climate change. So Andrea, it is on that note that I'll come to the end of a submission and I thank you very much. Over to you. Thank you very much, Anderson. And Anderson, you have done like myself. You failed to introduce yourself. So Anderson, please do so and let us know who you are and because I know very well that you're not Philip. Yes, so again, my name is Anderson Kebilla, the program leader for energy and climate change at the Stockholm Environment Institute. Thank you. Thank you very much, Anderson. And we are looking out for questions or comments or interventions in the chat. And with that, a very insightful submission from Dr. Anderson Kebilla, we will go on to Dr. Alfonso Summary. I believe that you're still online. Can you indicate if you can hear me? Yes, I can hear you. Good afternoon. Can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you. Perfect. So please, I would like to pose the question. So the African Development Bank has various financial products that could be assessed by a continental program like the one proposed, the African Cleaner Program. In your experience, what type of financial products by the bank could be sourced by a continental program such as the one we envisaged today? Thank you. Thank you for the question and thank you for the warm welcome. I have to say it's a very great honor to be part of this conversation today. And I call it a conversation because we're touching on an issue that is very relevant, but also this conversation is happening at a time that is very critical both within the continent of Africa but also across the globe. And let me say, look, I'm joining in from Abidjan. So I'm some outside, actually outside Abidjan in Irocos and this internet is not too perfect. So at some point, if I see some fluctuations, I'll put off the video. But why I thought it was very important for us to be a part of this conversation today is largely around the fact that we're beginning to appreciate, first thing, we're beginning to appreciate the value of an integrated approach to our development. So whether it is health pollution, whether it's climate change, whether it's a biodiversity crisis we're talking about, whether it is circularity with we're beginning to appreciate the value of looking at solutions that are very specific to solving multiple problems at the same time. And that said, it means also that when we begin to look at financial innovations, we're not looking at innovation for one, the expense of the other. The approach helps us to be able to also make sure that we governize enough financial resources. So at the African Development Bank, we don't have a standalone health pollution type of project. But within the Bank's safeguard, both environment, social and climate safeguard system, which is embedded in every development project that we engage in, we have health pollution integrated in that. And I think this is very, very important to be able to appreciate the fact that the development work of today requires that we just don't follow the approach of do-know-how. We also look at how we can use development finance to be able to improve engagement in certain key areas that may not necessarily stand on their own in terms of their own financial structure. So, and it's the same with the climate change as well, I see the link here, because at the Bank, we don't have a climate change project. What we have is climate informed development projects. So in the same vein, we don't have a standalone biodiversity project. We have a development project that integrates biodiversity and the rights in that. So, establishing that is very important because then, so as we move development finance and ultimately use that development finance, so leverage green climate finance, we're able to do multiple things at the same time and we're able to achieve multiple outcomes. So, embedding that in an integrated approach is the starting point. That is the enabling environment for the development finance or whatever form of finance within our care to channel or to flow in that direction. That is the first point that is very critical. The second point again is we're learning by doing. And I like to put it in a way that in the past, we've been able to focus some of our investment in a way that if there was a major air pollution as part of the operations, we will say no to those kind of investment. But that was not enough. It was also important to help this investment to see how do you create abatement mechanisms and how do we create resources for that? So, if the cost of that abatement or that control measures will be a little bit higher than normal costs of the investment, then we're able to have us to deepen our hands into different pockets of resources that we are, such as mostly grant resources or even providing technical assistance or extremely concessional funds in order to be able to address that. So, the opportunity to address those measures are being a driving force in expanding the financial product that we have in order to reach that. But again, like I said, it's learning by doing. So, it's not completely say no to something. It's about giving them the option to say including incentives in terms of capital in order for them to be able to integrate those control measures or those mitigation measures as we call them. The third point is still links to finance is what are considered to be very important. In this work that we do, we've also learned that sometimes you have to fly as you're building the plane. You have to fly as you're building the plane. So, you will never get everything that you need. So, the technology for assessment are improving and we're very happy to have partners like SCI and others here who are very much pushing the boundaries of the technologies for assessment. We are also able to do our work differently by using a lot more of expertise that may not necessarily be available within the band but available within our partner institutions. And by building that together, we keep making steps forward as we continue to build that partnership that is needed. Let me finally say this. What the bank does is to recognize that as you move towards that finance mechanisms, you will need to spend some upfront capital in doing things that may be very boring. I use them mundane things and such are things like investing in enabling environment, policy framework or even capacity development. And most times, most investors may not see the value of that. So, you need development finance, you need MDBs like ours to be able to put capital on the table, a very patient capital that may be seen result decades down the line. But you're able to provide those technical assistance in some cases, provide grant resources, fault government to be able to build the policy framework needed. In some cases, support the research work in universities and research centers in order to improve on technologies but also to support the adoption of those technologies. When we talk about financial products, we often don't talk about that. We just talk about what billions of dollars on the table. But these early investments are very important in order to be able to drive the policy agenda forward in the right direction, in order to be able to catalyze the skill of investment that we need. And that's where you find organization like the bank. And that's what we have been doing over the years. Then when you eventually translate into large-scale investment projects, under the same gap system that we put in place, we're able to provide incentives for either private investment or public corporations or even non-governmental organizations who are interested in large-scale investment to have access to the type of capital that we provide. And ultimately see that work on the ground in Africa. So just a summary, this is a very timely conversation. It's important to appreciate the integration and the integrativeness of this conversation along with other issues. We don't look at one thing in isolation but we're able to link that together. And then when we are able to do that, as we use development finance, we have an opportunity to achieve multiple outcomes through the different instrument that we have, from equity to guarantees, from different types of debt, all kinds of debt and all of those structures. But more importantly as well, we must understand that there's a layer of work that needs to be done in investing capital upfront, for building an enabling environment, for building the knowledge we need, the partnership, the capacity we need. And oftentimes it's the development finance that AFW provides, that's able to do that. And look, I know in the interest of time, I'll be able to share examples of some of them but I'll keep it there for now. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. And that was a very good submission. And I think that people here on the call, participants on the call, further enlightened on how they can assess finance for the kind of initiatives and programs that we are seeing as part of the clean air program. And so without much ado, I would like to go to Victor. Victor, air pollution is recognized as the key environmental driver, escalating the burden of disease, especially in developing regions such as Africa. The assessment for example, shows over 800,000 deaths can be avoided through implementation of the 37 measures by 2063. What could be an effective partnership structure to effectively manage air pollution in Africa to ensure maximum health benefits? Please proceed, Victor. Thanks, Adriana. Just give me a thumbs up if you can hear me. Oops, you went off camera. I'm good? Okay, thanks. So first of all, thank you for having us as HCI, the African Union Commission and SCI UNEPCCSC for organizing this forum. So I'd just like to start by contextualizing the health case in terms of air pollution and what we don't know and what we think we know. So there's various estimates out there. The assessment itself has run some estimates. I won't go into the numbers, but by and large, it's a problem. Different estimates done differently show us that we have a reason to act. There's a health case for action in terms of the health burden, our disease burden. We are getting to a point now where we are starting to see what looks like an epidemiological transition. It's already happened in Asia where traditionally in Africa infectious diseases still are the number one drivers. And non-communicable diseases are starting to go on the rise. And those are signs that are beginning to see and some obvious, some rather not so obvious, depending on where you are on the continent. And it's quite diverse in terms of how people are experiencing air pollution. So at HCI, we are US-based. Our work in Africa is at its infancy. But that being said, I would like to share some of the lessons we've learned in some of our efforts on the topic. We sort of do targeted science and strategic communication on that in terms of just diluting the so-per-heavy epidemic studies and all these kinds of things to in ways and forms that are easily understandable and you can have a conversation around that as journalists, as citizens, as hard-core scientists, et cetera. So I'll focus on two key lessons learned in the course of our sort of rolling out programs in different regions. One is that sustained support is critical for action. Support comes in two ways in this sense. It could be financial, it could be human resource. We tend to steer away from capacity building. There was a question in the chat, someone said that they've been in this for 23 years, they've always had data and capacity building to more towards the capacity strengthening sort of conversation. So sustained support, what does that look like? In many cases, we know that what? Let me take a sector like West, which is one of the sectors in the assessment. If you live in Nairobi, for instance, my sort of home city, you can see West is a problem. But the how is where the issue comes in. How do we deal this? You may not connect it to air pollution, but you know it's not good for your environment. You don't live in certain sort of environment for your health, for the environment and for loved ones around you. So pick any sector. The what is in many cases known what we need to do. The how is where the problem now comes in in terms of human capacity, financial and things like that. So one of the other things we've seen, sustained support in that sense is critical for action and long lasting action. The second point is a subject for a longer conversation, but I'll say it anyway. So it is important for us to have different thematic areas on the table. We are sort of, someone said in one forum, we are trained in silos, we get to practice in silos. You think of your training sort of academically and whatnot, you're trained as an engineer, you get out and you practice as an engineer. At the scale of problem you're looking at as air pollution as it is, we need multi-sector or multi-faceted sort of response, which is what the assessment also is telling us. So this is one of the other things we've seen in the different geographies where we've sort of had the pleasure of rolling out different programs. In terms of what we would suggest as possible, what a partnership would look like. In our experience, I'd say there's different scales to the problem. So if you're looking at this as a transboundary issue, the issue of a continental air quality frameworks comes into play. You may want to do something at that scale. If you're looking at this at a more localized scale, maybe a sub-regional kind of community of practice or arrangement may work. We have examples to go with that. UNEP has done well in sort of harmonization of fuel vehicles, fuel emission standards at sub-regional level with the powers ESC and CETIC. So maybe that's one thing to explore. At national local city level, we've heard from C40 and the efforts there, there is something to do at that level as well. So air pollution is looked at so many different levels. And at HEI, you may have heard of the State of Global Air Initiative. We have a platform that sort of provides some level of data to start a conversation at all these different regional, sub-regional, national scale. And now we've recently done one at city scale as well, looking at NO2 nitrogen dioxide as a pollutant. So I guess in summary, what I'd like to say, in our experience, partnership building is a bit like building an onion. So at the end of the day, you know, you'll make good food, but as you through the process of building, you have very painful conversations you'll cry along the way. But as long as you have your target in mind, it's worthwhile and, you know, we're happy to be part of this conversation at this stage. So, and thank you so much. Thank you very much for that submission, Victor. And I forever hold that vision in my head. Partnership building is like peeling an onion. It is painful, you may cry, but in the end you will have food. So with that, I would like to invite Ida, Alice or Kevin to flag any comments that are in the chat that we need that need to be addressed either generally by this community or the panelists. So can you see any comments addressed to either Victor, to Fonzo or to Anderson? There's one comment coming in from Aminata about tacking air pollution is indeed a priority for African countries due to health impact and the economy losses. Lack of data needs to be addressed, but also poor regulations is a big issue. And they're saying that, for example, eco was guidelines on fuel and vehicle emissions should go forward and be implemented in locally buy countries. And that's something that, you know, that provision to actually do that regulation was actually mentioned in the eco was agreement, the Abhijan agreement from 2009. So it relates to, these things have been mentioned for a long time, but how do we actually get action? So that's one comment. Thank you very much, Kevin, please go on. Can't see any others that relate to the latest presentations. Someone was worried about the fact that we seem to be coming from the climate side. The person you explained to Andrea in the chat about they were asking about where the emissions come from and how they're related to air pollution and climate change. And they say that a statement like it is time to clean the air for Africa is a good statement, but not in the context of climate change. So he said, if the statement was not in the context of climate change, he would have applauded the speaker. But I tried to explain to him in the chat that it's not about the, it's not climate first. It's air pollution is the priority, but as you clean the air for air pollution and to help people's health and the environment, you can have these attendant climate benefits, which is good for Africa to show leadership, but also the climate change emissions is really a problem outside of Africa. So we've had that conversation in the chat, but those are basically, that's basically the content of the chat at the moment, but I guess I've missed something. Thank you very much, Kevin. I think I would like to open the floor for submissions from our participants. Please look out for any hands up. And as we wait for hands up, I would like to reiterate what the panelists put forward from the very beginning from Anderson of the work for Stockholm Environment Institute with multi-lateral institutions, partnerships with national governments, but also sub-national governments in planning, in submission of NDCs, data and opinion, that information and opinion, that as well as the regional frameworks and a call to upscale these solutions. And the challenges might be in translating policy to action. We've had that many times and looking at technical support, but also the critical mention of youth and the informal sector that was also mentioned by Dr. Ishan Munan. Are there any hands up? Kevin? Not like to see. All right, and then from Alfonso, we actually had the importance of integrated lens. And I'm wondering on this community of practice, the cry for resources is always quite significant and prominent. So that, we have the FDB here in our panel. This is the opportunity to ask how clean air can be funded. So we've heard from Alfonso that climate informed development is actually a way to put forward air pollution in terms of funding. If the project integrates development, integrates climate and also integrates biodiversity, that is easier or at least it gets the attention to possibly get funding. We've heard that from Alfonso that we have multiple outcomes. Would they actually support enabling environments? And especially this project needs to have considerations for batements, control measures, that needs to be created in projects. Now, and then Alfonso also reminded us that you have to fly while building an aeroplane. And I had an image of those brothers that built the carers brothers that built, you close to the sun. So I hope that is not the case for the clean air program for Africa. But Alfonso has also mentioned that there's capacity building and technical assistance. So I'm calling again the community of practice and saying Alfonso is here from the African Development Bank and we need to then put him to task to understand how we can fund this going forward. So again, Kevin, if there's any hands, just stop me in my monologue as I go on to... Can I call me? Yes, sure. Alfonso, please go ahead. Good, thank you. So I was quite pleased to hear the point made about when someone said, look, maybe I would have clapped for the speakers if they didn't mention climate change. And I do understand that. But I think we also have to be, as much as possible, be very honest about the society that we're in today. You can look at air pollution in a vacuum because even if you remove climate change, you can look at air pollution through the lens of the first urbanizing state of the African continent. We're very urbanizing continent. And actually the truth is our population is going to double by 2050. 80% of that population increase is going to happen in cities. So if today's cities already have a high level of pollution, you can expect what tomorrow's cities are going to look like. So even if you don't mention climate change at all, you can talk about air pollution within the notion of urbanization. And I think it's very important to be able to do that. And it's the same way you're going to expect the finance that you're not just going to say, I have an air pollution reduction project. What is the goal of that? What is it leading to? What development outcome are you going to be able to tie to that? Now, the advantage that we have is that the global momentum on climate change, to be honest, we wish we could have as much momentum on almost everything, including poverty, including biodiversity loss, including desertification. But the smart thing to do is if you have a dominant idea globally that is generating the level of momentum in interest, knowledge, like we've seen in climate change, there's an opportunity to create integrative models and frame issues in an integrative way as opposed to an individual way. That's the point I wanted to make. Thank you. Thank you very much. And as you were speaking, I was seeing the chat coming up with the comments. So I would like to ask the person, I think Philip put that comment. Would you like to speak to that? And then ask the question for the comments. Yes, thank you. Andriana, can you hear me? Yeah, I just wanted, I think there are two innovative facilities that are being at least operational at the bank. One is the methane fund. And the other one is the global, the green mobility facility for Africa, which I know is already providing about one million US dollars of land to promote e-mobility, e-task schemes in Rwanda and Kenya. And I think we'd like to hear from folks on how this is operating and what are the opportunities for scaling this up? Thank you, Philip. Very good point as well. Actually, in addition to those two facilities you've just talked about, we also have the African Secular Economy Facility, ACF, and basically looking into issues about either similar to material reductions in landfills and waste, or looking at even material reductions in agriculture, but also looking more strategically into developing entrepreneurship opportunities and as well as supporting the work that I talked about enabling the environment. At the early stage, if we're working with the government that we were thinking about, government putting in place the right policies but also the right incentives as well through the type of laws that they have that they need to have. In some cases, push the agenda closer to even the parliament just to be able to get that level of interest and also the level of support that you have within the policy level. Within research or within advocacy level or within even entrepreneurship or investment level, some of these facilities that you have, including the Green Mobility Facility, they help you to have that capital that help you to manage the risk. For investors, for most of you who understand investment, there is a landscape of value of debts and a grant capital of about a million dollars can help you reach both of concepts, can help you reach new market opportunities and the bank provides those resources. Now, I'm the first to acknowledge that it's not enough. When you compare that to the need on the continent but it's a starting point and what I find to be sustainable in the long run, it's look, you have to be able to create linkages. I can't say that enough but I'll be happy to pass some links about these facilities to the organisers so that it doesn't end here. We can continue to provide information within this community of practice. Thank you. Thank you very much. I'm happy to see these comments coming through and I think there was another comment that I might have missed, right? Is there a comment that I missed, Kevin? Yeah, sorry, I was trying to get to my mute button. Yes, there is. And it was from, let me just scroll up, from Jerry. So Jerry, do you want to take the floor to give your comment to Fanzo? Thanks, Kevin. So I'm just interested to hear a little bit from Fanzo in terms of follow-up mechanisms for environmental safeguards in the projects that are funded by the bank. Usually in the proposals and in the pitches by the respective governments and other players, there'll be very beautiful safeguards written into these documents and perhaps as preconditions for funding. But what sort of follow-up mechanisms and mechanisms would there be in place to ensure that what they say they will do is actually what they do and particularly with respect to abatement of air pollution. Thank you. Thank you very much. Very good question. And look, it's actually important to emphasize that if anyone has ever seen any of the environmental and social impact assessment projects implemented by the bank infrastructure-wise mostly, you will see the level of extensive work that we do on impact air pollution. Now, we don't do this as an individual. It's a prerequisite for the client, the borrowing client to be able to do that. Now, and no, Jerry, you may say, well, they can put anything in there. What mechanisms do you have to verify if it's true or not, or if it was well done or not? And look, this is Africa, you know? But the truth about it is that what we do is we have a disclosure policy where beyond sending some of this report to SBOT within the country or for review, whatever is produced there we have a structure project. Jerry, we're interested to know that it must be disclosed for a period of 120 days. Look, we're losing time. We're very impatient when it comes to we want things on the ground. We want the projects to happen, but at the same time, you want to do it in a way that you don't compromise on the safeguards, particularly when it touches on the environment, issues of health, issues of labor, and the like. So what we do is that we put that out there. And if you've got a very strong civil society in the country, they are usually the first to flag a number of things to say, look, this is not correct, or this is right, or even an international organization that is interested in making sure that that project does not compromise on some standards and that. And we get that. So what we actually have, and I'm talking about the mechanism now, we have a separate body within the bank, independent body that makes sure that they deal with that. And we have had projects being canceled. We have had projects going through a long delay because they needed to satisfy a number of things, particularly those environmental related convenience and treaties that we are signatories to. We do not compromise on that. And we do have an institutional framework in getting that done. So now what that means for you, Jerry, is be free to raise or to flag any project that they cooked up numbers on air pollution. And we will be very happy to take that forward. No, look, it's very important because the development part of it is that you're able to create a platform for everyone to be part of it. From the research body to the civil society, to the communities, who are going to be beneficiaries of that. And look, and if you guess where projects need to be canceled, they will be canceled. Thank you very much, Founso. I see you, Godwin, and I think this is the last question we'll take before closing this very inside of the session. Godwin, please go ahead. Thank you, and Rihanna, mine is just a whole lot of questions and still directed to Founso. And I think if I go very clearly, what you're asking is the follow-up mechanism before the projects are funded, they do the EIRs funded when they are now operational, when the project is over, the follow-up mechanism, like their bodies, that's I think what you meant. What are the structures that ATB has put issues to do with air pollution measurements as opposed to be taken. During construction, after construction has been done and they're done with that, so during operation time, what are the follow-up mechanisms because they present that in the EIR report. So what are both the follow-up mechanisms? Do you have something for ATB along those lines? Okay. I was hoping your question, Godwin, was going to be for other speakers. But okay. Thank you, thank you for bringing my attention to that. Look, every project is honed by the client and the beneficiaries of the project. It's not honed by the bank funding the project. It's very important. It may be financed by the project, but it's not honed by the project. It's not honed by the bank. So what is very important is during even construction period we have supervision or a feed visit. We have supervision review. I actually, in some cases, depending on the complexity of the project, you could have them up to three, four times in a year and think about that for a period of five years. Now, you've done a lot of work to get it approved even after approval, you don't answer a lot of those things because what you do is that once you have an approval, the bank will sign with the country on that loan or that investment. That legal contract also has environmental convenience and it's an agreement that this following things must be done. Whether it's tree planting, whether it's continuous safeguard implementation, all of them. And when they are done, when the project is finally completed, the project becomes an asset of the country. So it's very important that usually once you have helped the country and not a conditionality, but rather working together with the country to pude and to put this infrastructure as well as following the safe gas system in place, it becomes something part of it for the continuity because there are some of the agreements that are, take for instance a road project, some of the agreements have elements of operation and maintenance. So every six months, you must do certain things. It's part of the agreement and the convenience that must be respected. I'm sorry if you're expecting me to say, look, we can say we're going to pull out a big whip and say, look, give us back our money. No, not at all. And I think it's very important to situate the conversation around hair pollution around partnership. It's going to be partnership and partnership mutual support will recognize your strength, will recognize your weakness. We'll see where do we work together? How do we leverage on our strengths and the strength of our other partners, like some of you here to support the work of the government so that it becomes something that is internally owned by them. And let's not forget that keyword, partnership all throughout it. Even when it comes to implementation that looks like it's very transactional that you see that partnership spirit that we must not lose sight of. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. And I do not want to finish this panel without acknowledging all of you and saying thank you for being in this panel and giving us your interventions and I would like to put it to you that if you are a participant in this meeting, you should take note as you are trying to put that project together, request for financing that Stockholm Environment Institute stands by to provide that very critical bridging between science and policy but obviously ATI as well represented by Victor here also stands in place to ensure that you consider the health impacts that that project could have in putting that integrated lens that we've talked about. But at the end of this session and I would like to take this back to Alice before I do so I would like to introduce myself. My name is Andrea Nambandi. I'm with the United Nations Framework for Climate Change Convention High Level Climate Champions and High Level Climate Champions critically put state and non-state actors and in that program I lead and support on waste particularly to eliminate open waste bonding in Africa and elsewhere. So thank you very much and over to you Alice. Thank you Andriana for navigating this session. So effectively I see Kevin your hand is up and Adam's camera you want to make a comment before we move to the next session please take the floor it is partnership and inclusiveness Yes No I was just applauding Andrea it was a clap. Ah it was a clap. Sorry for misinterpretation of emojis you see this non-verbal communication can also be a little bit tricky now friends colleagues forum participants you will agree with me that during this forum which we have held today we have actually established although we already knew that air pollution and climate change are a nexus challenge and a threat to human health the environment and the attainment of Agenda 2063 which is the Africa we want our NDC targets the Paris target and the Agenda 2030 but more specifically for a continent like Africa that is rapidly urbanizing and has got multiple development challenges like actually highlighted to us a few seconds ago we do not have the luxury of time for inaction on air pollution and climate change now during this inaugural partnership forum we have shared knowledge and experience from continental organizations I mean cities, African Development Bank Stockholm Environment Institute don't take offence if I don't mention you, you are all here and all of you who are on this platform we have learnt a lot and a number of lessons which I have captured during the conversation that we have shared experiences which will enable the team that has been working on this assessment to craft a roadmap for action to develop the Africa Clean Air Program under the leadership of the African Union we have received commitment from leaders of institutions and organizations that were in the partnership for the undertaking of the assessment that is the African Union Commission the African Ministry of Conference on Environment Stockholm Environment Institute Climate and Clean Air Coalition the regional regional office for Africa all the economic communities of Africa many of the authors, co-authors leaders and co-chairs of the process who are on board we have committed kindly if you are not at the moment so the leadership of these partners have committed to continue support towards the implementation of the 37 measures across the five areas and I do think we recall the five areas in which the agriculture, waste, transport indoor air pollution, health and so on we have identified gaps that have previously impeded progress in terms of having clean air in Africa and one is science policy action disconnect whereby we find that we have high level policy decisions at the ministerial level at the ground level and they think drawing lessons from Kenya SLCP with advocacy and even also the comments by Afunza that we need to ensure we reach out to the beneficiaries through the safeguard mechanisms of the bank points to the need for us to close this gap the other gap that we have identified is lack of a continental convention or air pollution or a legally binding agreement or instrument to drive systematic large-scale action on air pollution I think we have recalled the air quality agreements of 10 years ago and the historical narration of AMSEN in terms of ministerial decisions that have been taken I think since 2012 and now we are in 2023 are calling on us to think or consider having a convention on transboundary air pollution number three as a gap is that we have weak proper articulation of a case for enabling catalytic financing of investment readiness on integrated air pollution development and this came out from the presentation from the bank and there was a highlight that we can start by ensuring that we properly articulate the case for air pollution and climate change by linking them to development benefits for example addressing poverty eradicating poverty preventing biodiversity laws and also capturing a global commitment for example on climate action and articulating it down to the ground level should be one of the things we do so that we are able to capture finance from the level of grants for inception and investment readiness and transitioning from grants to bigger pots of money through equity guarantees of risks, debt financing and other financial products we had a critique of ourselves in terms of always citing the gap of the need for capacity building but we said we still need to focus on capacity development pressing it in a way to say that where we identify a gap of knowledge technology we can be able to still undertake the capacity development finally and that is the number 5 outcome we have reaffirmed that partnerships that are integrated through transdisciplinary community of practice are needed in Africa and this should be based on what is already in place we can strengthen the existing communities of practice so that we are able to move forward in taking action on air pollution and climate change in an integrated manner however we are also reminded that creating such community of practice we should be ready to peel the onion that is we can feel pain initially but finally we will be very successful because it is only through partnerships that we can be able to pool resources whether financial technology knowledge or other enablers like policy to move forward and as we conclude I would wish that we appreciate ourselves those of us who have been here all this time and all your contributions that you have made so that we see how we move forward so what is the next steps I think it is normally very good when we leave a forum like this with an understanding that we came together we shared the knowledge we shared the experience so what will happen next we are going to package all the knowledge and experience that you have shared with us today into a roadmap that will support the African Union in terms of developing the Africa Clean Air Program to analyze the responses that you have provided to us with regard to your specific interest on joining the community of practice and also in championing action across Africa so that we continue to be a network of scientists, policy makers and practitioners in the field of integrated air pollution and climate change and thirdly this conversation will continue this is just the inaugural virtual event that the partners in this process have organized but we shall be moving forward to go regional remember we have the western Africa region and we wish to ensure that our Francophone members are with us and we are developing an inclusive process for action that is going to be a big scale in the whole continent thank you very much and we now may conclude and I may declare this forum officially closed I thank you again and I wish you well in your respective actions on climate change and air pollution thank you now we applaud thank you for the applauses and we will now turn on the camera and I will now photograph ourselves if you turn on your cameras Lawrence I see you online great look at these good people please just turn on your camera for a second and we will capture you as having been the champions for this action across Africa on integrated air pollution is in portrait not landscape or the other way Jerry Godwin Lawrence you are the action person are you taking the pictures already I've taken one Alice you did take across all the screens please if your image misses you are missing in action support Africa to support yourself to enjoy clean air let me get yeah that's right it now officially closed thank you very much for this thank you everyone bye goodbye goodbye thank you all for participating