The December 2010 issue of AUC News reports on activities of the African Group during the Cancun Climate Change Conference and other high-level events.
February 2011: The African Union Commission (AUC) has released its December 2010 newsletter, titled “AUC News,” which focuses on activities and events of the African Group during the Cancun Climate Change Conference, as well as reports on other high-level meetings held in the African region.
On climate change, the newsletter contains a report on the position of the African Group during the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 16) held in Cancun, Mexico, at the end of 2010, as well as meetings held at the sidelines of the Conference, including a session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN). At this meeting, ministers reaffirmed Africa’s position to continue negotiations on two tracks, and to engage Japan and other countries in the run up to COP 17 to support the extension of the Kyoto Protocol in order to avoid a legal vacuum after 2012.
The newsletter also features a report on an Extraordinary Conference of African Ministers of Economy and Finance, held 16-17 December 2010, in Yaounde, Cameroon, which considered alternative financing strategies for the AU and a proposal for the establishment of the African Monetary Fund. Other articles focus on, among other issues: a meeting of the Peace and Security Council on the situation in Côte D’Ivoire; World Aids Day; the signing of the Port Moresby Agreement between the AUC and the EU; and preparations for the 16th African Union Summit, which convened from 24-31 January 2011, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. [AUC News]