Report of the Conference of the Parties to the Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes within Africa on the work of its second meeting

The objectives of the training workshop were i) to provide the participants with an intensive and practical treatment of the principles, processes, procedures and uses of environmental impact assessment, both as a management and policy tool in the context of sustainable development, and ii) to enable the participants develop frameworks of EIA methodologies appropriate to their respective national development needs.

The seventh Conference of the Parties to the Convention for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Western Indian Ocean was held in Mozambique from 10 - 14 December 2012, in Maputo, Mozambique. The COP7 theme was “Partnering for a Healthy Western Indian Ocean”. The summary of the proceeding of the seventh Conference of Parties are presented in this report.

The oil and gas industry is showing considerable growth in the Western Indian Ocean region, representing both economic opportunity as well as significant risks in terms of the negative impacts on the coastal and marine environment. Aware of the economic potential as well as the need for regional and national environmental safeguards, the Eighth Conference of the Parties to the Nairobi Convention for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Western Indian Ocean (Nairobi Convention), under Decision CP8/7, called for concerted efforts in environment management in the oil and gas development. There is therefore an urgent need for strong governance frameworks that are aligned with international best practice to support effective impact mitigation strategies.