The third edition of the Italy-Africa forum, held in Rome, Italy, looked at the population, the planet and the future. In his capacity as Chairman of the Executive Board of the African Union (AU), the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Christophe Lutundula Apala, led the African delegation to the summit, which brought together delegations from 54 African countries and other major African regional organisations, as well as Italian institutional figures and representatives of the economic world, academic, business, and third sector.
This year, the summit was part of the Italian G20 Presidency and took place on the three pillars, “People, Planet, Prosperity”, in connection with the partnership with the United Kingdom for COP26. The go was given by the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, on Friday 8 October 2021, followed by speeches by various speakers.
In his speech, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Christophe Lutundula Apala, argued that the ecological transition is a challenge and that the Paris agreement is of particular interest to Africans. He said the issue of the green background “has never seen an execution start” and that its effects are not felt by Africans. Hence its insistence on the need for industrialized countries, to give compensation to African countries in relation to their efforts to protect humanity, through the conservation of nature.
« For example, in Congo, we are the second largest ecological lung in the world, after the Amazon. Forests, waters, we have them. And all this requires compensation so that we can continue this effort, especially since we do not pollute. It is those who are developed, who have large polluting industries that have brought us into this situation. But we are making efforts, these efforts must be understood somewhere », said the Congolese head of diplomacy.
This, after encouraging African countries to “harmonize positions on energy, environment and security issues in particular”. In fact, these and other issues were discussed at this third Italy-Africa conference.
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