The Minister of Environment, Jeanne d'Arc Mujawamariya, has urged environmental legal experts in Central Africa to familiarise themselves with key international environmental agreements and their implications at the national level. In an event, to be closed on Friday, May 3, legal professionals from Central Africa gathered to discuss the significance of international agreements on the environment and climate change. ALSO READ: Rwanda pushes for global treaty to reduce plastic’s contribution to climate change The event highlighted the importance of legal expertise in facilitating negotiations and understanding the complexities of the global accords. Among the international agreements discussed were the Paris Agreement, aimed at limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol for reducing hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). ALSO READ: Rwanda welcomes global deal to save species from extinction One key treaty under negotiation, proposed by Rwanda and Peru, is the Global Plastics Treaty. Rwanda has expressed interest in hosting the treaty's Diplomatic Conference in Kigali, with the goal of adopting the treaty by 2024. This proposed global treaty is expected to play a crucial role in ending plastic pollution, with an ambitious target to eliminate plastic waste by 2040. The most recent round of negotiations on the Global Plastics Treaty concluded in Ottawa, Canada, on April 30. This fourth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution session was the first where nations negotiated the text for the proposed global treaty. ALSO READ: Rwanda rallies countries to ratify the Kigali climate deal Despite contentious debates over limiting global plastic production, negotiators agreed to continue their work ahead of the final committee meeting in South Korea later this year. The goal is to have a treaty ready for adoption by the end of 2024. While legal experts focus on these broader international agreements, there is a pressing need for their active involvement in implementing and enforcing them at the national and sub-regional levels. According to Minister Mujawamariya, Rwanda has ratified many international agreements, and the effective implementation of these treaties requires robust legal frameworks and active participation from environmental lawyers. “We have to raise awareness of lawyers of the commitment made by states under the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement, Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification, and multilateral agreements in the sector of environment and their implication at the national level, most of which Rwanda has ratified,” she said. Honoré Tabuna, the Commissioner in Charge of the Environment, Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Rural Development Department of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), emphasised the need for environmental lawyers to play a more active role in developing and implementing environmental laws. He called for increased engagement in supporting the sub-region's harmonisation efforts and adapting national laws to align with international agreements. As the negotiations for the Global Plastics Treaty progress, environmental legal experts are expected to play a crucial role in ensuring the agreements are effectively implemented at the national and regional levels.
