WHEN: 17-18 August 2023

WHERE: Sunstar Hotel, Garden Estate Road, Exit 7, Thika Road, Nairobi, Kenya

WHAT: A two-day workshop on the nexus of trade and climate for regional and national civil society organisations in Africa. There will also be a policy dialogue on climate action to be attended by the United Nations Environment Programme, Africa Development Bank, and Kenya ministries such as the Ministry of Environment and Forestry and National Environment Management Authority.

CONTACT: Caroline Muturi, IBON Africa Coordinator (cmuturi@iboninternational.org)

Nairobi, Kenya – In the Africa region, liberalisation and deregulation policies imposed by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other neoliberal trade and investment agreements have facilitated the expansion of monocrop plantations, chemical-based agriculture, and hazardous production processes. These practices are mainly driven by big private corporations and have led to biodiversity loss, natural and man-made disasters, and resource grabbing from communities, farmers, and indigenous peoples. In the Africa region, civil society organisations are concerned that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement will perpetuate unequal trade relations with the European Union, and further open their economies for corporate resource extraction.

This alarming trend not only exacerbates the climate crisis but also contributes to poverty, inequality, and increasing conflicts within the region. Farmers are increasingly pushed to adopt unsustainable practices, relying heavily on chemicals such as insecticides, fungicides, and chemical fertilisers to meet international market demands. This overreliance on agrochemicals has serious consequences for soil health, groundwater systems, human and animal health, and the overall ecosystem, while also contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.

IBON Africa will tackle intersecting trade and climate issues in the workshop and multi-stakeholder dialogue, “Locating the Nexus of Trade and Climate: Advancing People-Centred Trade and Climate Action in Africa” on 17-18 August 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya. The workshop will convene civil society organisations to strategise on organising and mobilising around the rights and climate impacts of neoliberal trade policies.  This will be followed by a multistakeholder policy dialogue where CSOs will raise their concerns on the climate and rights impacts of unjust trade policies, and share their recommendations with the Africa Development Bank, United Nations Environment Programme, Ministry of Environment and Forestry among other development actors. #

IBON International is a global non-government organisation based in Manila, Philippines. It is a service institution that cooperates mainly with social movements and civil society constituencies in all regions of the world, especially in the global South and among marginalised groups. IBON has a representative office in Europe and a regional office in Africa based in Nairobi, Kenya.