The European Union-funded Africa Low Emissions Development Strategies Modelling has been launched in Cameroon to span three years.

Cameroon is one of the beneficiaries of the 3.42 million Euro European Union-funded Africa Low Emissions Development Strategies Modelling project. The European Commission, United Nation’s Environment Programme, Africa LEADS Partnership, LEDS Global Partnership, Mitigation Action Plans and Scenarios Africa and other participating organizations are partnering for selected African countries to strengthen and improve emission climate resilient development planning and implementation and emission modelling to ensure optimal Intended National Determined Contributions proposed prior to the Paris Conference of Parties on Climate Change.

Cameroon like many African countries faces same challenges like the lack of energy, utilizing only 10 per cent of its solar power and above all food insecurity with many people going hungry.

The development trajectory of the country has however been envisaged in its vision 2035 as well as the African Agenda 2063 with an opportunity to address climate change challenges with job creation and sustainable agriculture as primordial, the Richard Munang, UNEP’s Regional Climate change Coordinator stated at the project launch in Yaounde on July 15, 2016.

Action plans in agriculture, energy and forestry are inscribed in the three-year project that seeks to boost sustainable development through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

The Ministry of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development is the project focal point, with experts disclosing that the two-component programme will feature regional peer learning and knowledge sharing efforts to catalyse low emission climate change resilient development.

The Inspector N° 1 at the Ministry of the Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development, Valentin Wangnoun, sitting in for Minister Hele Pierre rejoiced over the country-driven project that seeks to curb gas emissions through best practices in agriculture and energy development.

Other countries engaged in the LED Africa project are the Democratic Republic of Congo and Côte d’Ivoire.