PRESS RELEASE: GYIN-Gambia's SG To Attend Fourth African Carbon Forum In Ethiopia

Ms Meita Touray

Miss Meita Touray Secretary General of the Global Youth Innovation Network-Gambia better known as GYIN-Gambia, who is also a Reporter with the Daily Observer Newspaper has been invited to attend the fourth Africa Carbon Forum (ACF) which is schedule to place in the Ethiopian Capital Addis Ababa from the 18th-20th April 2012.  Miss Touray on Tuesday 17 April, 2012 left Banjul International Airport for Ethiopia. 

The Forum organisers are the African Development Bank (ADB), International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), UNEP Risø Centre, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), World Bank and its World Bank Institute, and is supported by the Ethiopian Environmental Protection Agency.

This year’s event will take place at the United Nations conference center in Addis Ababa Ethiopia with focus on promoting green and low carbon development in Africa, with much emphasis placed on the decisions taken in Durban during COP-17, which renewed the international commitment to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, as well as the impact and deliverables Africa can expect to see from the adoption of the “Durban Platform”.

"Welcome to the 4th African Carbon Forum, the organizing partners are delighted to invite you (Meita Touray) to this fourth edition of the forum, which will be held from 18-20 April in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia," Touray's invitation letter reads.

In this endeavor, the invitation continued, "We would like to ask for your availability for a meeting that is planned between the High-Level Panel and Media Representatives."

Shortly before her departure, Touray expresses her delight to be selected and listed with other participant from divers countries. This she said, will pave her way to learn, network and share her experience on climate change issues which she described as a global treat.

ACF according to her is a networking and a knowledge sharing platform for carbon investors in Africa. It is a platform to discuss the latest development in the carbon market and how the Clean Development Mechanisms-CDM can be successful in Africa.

During the forum, Touray said there will be a plenary sessions which will allow high level experts from Africa and outside the continent to deliver their views on recent developments in the international carbon market and new challenges associated with global climate change.

Topics for these plenary sessions, she stated will range from discussions on the future for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in Africa, to the challenges for Low Carbon Energy Access; from opportunities in Forestry and Agriculture to a global perspective on the future demands for offsets.

She continued: ‘‘The plenary sessions will be supported by workshop and training sessions which will give participants the opportunity to improve their know-how and learn from relevant experts on a more informal basis''.

According to her, the African Carbon Forum (ACF) will also provide extensive networking opportunities to enable potential project developers to showcase their ideas to interested parties, including potential investors and carbon credit buyers.

The Africa Carbon Forum is also an exhibition providing international organizations, governments and private companies with the perfect setting to present and showcase their activities and technologies. The High-Level Panel, Touray said will also be attending the African Carbon Forum adding that the aim is to meet with various stakeholders and take stock of the lessons learned in implementing the CDM and recommend how to position the mechanism going forward.

The Panel, she stated will consists of distinguished policy makers and representatives of civil society and business who will engage a wide range of stakeholders through meetings and studies to gain a full and unbiased picture of the operations, benefits and shortcomings of the CDM.

She concluded by calling on GYIN-Gambia member to be proactive in realization of the network's aims and objectives adding that GYIN-Gambia in its aims and objectives, is to develop the leadership potential of Gambian youth to be able to compete in a global foras.