As the 20th Ordinary Session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN-20) continues in Nairobi, Kenya, Zimbabwe’s reaffirmation of its readiness to host the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP15) in Victoria Falls next week is more than a diplomatic pledge, it signals a determined push for Africa to lead the global environmental transformation narrative.
The AMCEN-20 summit, running under the theme “Four Decades of Environmental Action in Africa: Reflecting on the Past and Imagining the Future”, brings together African ministers, environmental technocrats, UN agencies, and civil society to forge a unified roadmap for the continent’s environmental priorities from 2025 to 2027. This gathering comes at a time when Africa’s ecosystems are facing unprecedented pressure, exacerbated by climate change, unregulated development, and inadequate environmental governance structures.
One of the most urgent discussions on the sidelines was centred on the Global Wetlands Outlook 2025, which paints a bleak picture of rapid wetland degradation, revealing that over 22% of wetlands globally have been lost since 1970. The gravity of this report has only intensified expectations for COP15 in Victoria Falls, which now bears the responsibility to galvanise practical solutions and financing models to safeguard Africa’s wetlands, key to the continent’s water security, food systems, biodiversity, and climate resilience.
Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Dr Musonda Mumba, highlighted both the urgency and opportunity embedded in this crisis. She noted that wetland recovery is not only feasible but cost-effective, provided that governments act with urgency and unity. Her remarks subtly reinforce the expectation that COP15 must go beyond declarations and deliver implementable action backed by political will and regional cooperation.
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, Dr Evelyn Ndlovu, echoed this call for transformative strategies, noting that Africa’s wetlands, often undervalued and encroached upon, are vital to climate stability, freshwater systems, and community livelihoods. Her statements reflect a growing shift in Zimbabwe’s environmental diplomacy: from policy alignment to leadership in implementation and innovation. With wetlands being central to hydrological balance, flood mitigation, and biodiversity support, their protection is no longer a conservationist agenda, but a development imperative.
More importantly, Zimbabwe’s leadership role in hosting COP15 signals a repositioning of the country as a convenor of global dialogue on nature-based solutions. Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, will serve as a symbolic and strategic venue to spotlight Africa’s unique environmental assets and vulnerabilities.
But beyond symbolism lies the need for substance. Africa still faces a significant funding gap in environmental sustainability, and as COP15 looms, discussions on climate finance, debt-for-nature swaps, green investment mechanisms, and public-private partnerships must take centre stage. With many African states grappling with fiscal pressures, the challenge will be to ensure that wetland conservation is embedded into broader national development strategies, rather than treated as an isolated ecological concern.
AMCEN-20 also marks four decades of continental collaboration under AMCEN, a body that has evolved from advisory beginnings into a vital organ for environmental governance. However, as delegates reflect on the past, there is clear recognition that the future demands a more proactive, integrated approach, where environmental policies catalyse industrialisation, food security, health, and job creation. Zimbabwe’s active role within AMCEN and now as host of COP15 provides a timely opportunity to entrench environmental action within the heart of its Vision 2030 and the upcoming National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2).
Moreover, Zimbabwe’s COP15 hosting responsibility is an opportunity for local communities, scientists, youth and policymakers to actively shape a new discourse, where wetlands are no longer viewed as wastelands, but as engines of economic growth, tourism, cultural heritage, and ecological sustainability.
As the countdown to COP15 begins, Zimbabwe stands at a crossroads: to merely host, or to lead. If the declarations made at AMCEN-20 are any indication, the latter path is clearly emerging. The challenge now lies in translating commitments into action, and rhetoric into results.
For Africa, the message from Nairobi to Victoria Falls is clear: wetlands matter, not only for the birds and reeds, but for the very survival and prosperity of its people.
