Overview

The Africa Natural Capital Accounting Community of Practice is a regional learning and knowledge platform that brings together professionals from governments institutions, nongovernmental organizations and academia that are interested in or working on Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) in Africa. It was initiated in November 2019, following the first Africa Forum on Natural Capital Accounting in Kampala, Uganda. Attended by representatives from 18 African countries, participants expressed unanimous support for the creation of a community of practice on NCA in Africa. Responding to this demand, the Global Program on Sustainability, the Gaborone Declaration for Sustainability in Africa, the United Nations Statistics Division, and the United Nations Environment Programme, committed to provide technical support to this community over the coming years. 

Objective 

The Africa Natural Capital Accounting Community of Practice aims to build momentum and mainstream NCA into statistical production and policy in all African countries by supporting best practices through capacity building and knowledge sharing. To that end, and over the next few years, the community of practice intends to hold regular forums at regional and international fora; share information through a newsletter; produce joint communications including case studies; share experiences through south-south exchanges and joint trainings; and build technical expertise through themed working groups, among other activities. A interim volunteer working group has been convened to coordinate the development of a workplan to guide the implementation of these activities. It will also coordinate the appointment of focal points in countries across Africa who will be responsible for connecting their colleagues in government to the activities of the community of practice.