Nairobi, May 15 (IANS) African parliamentarians on Friday began a three-day meeting in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, to explore ways of reducing methane emissions while safeguarding economic growth.

The conference, the first-ever regional meeting in Africa dedicated specifically to methane, is organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Parliament of Kenya, in cooperation with Climate Parliament and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

In his opening remarks, Martin Chungong, secretary-general of the IPU, said that failing to curb methane emissions directly threatens global progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those related to health, food security, and climate action, Xinhua news agency reported.

Chungong said methane’s intense short-term warming effect rapidly accelerates climate disruptions, erasing hard-won development gains across Africa.

“Embrace regional experiences and help inspire South-South cooperation as a way of managing climate change,” he told more than 100 delegates from across the continent, including lawmakers from 21 African countries and global environmental experts.

Takehiro Nakamura, head of the UNEP International Environmental Technology Centre, warned that methane emissions are actively driving severe localised climate disruptions across Africa, demanding an immediate and unified response from state leaders.

He said that lawmakers hold the legislative and budgetary authority necessary to transform broad climate goals into enforceable national policies.

Climate experts and policy analysts at the summit said that lawmakers must treat environmental protection as a fundamental duty tied to public welfare, as climate change disproportionately affects vulnerable populations.

The first day of the three-day seminar included sessions on “Understanding climate change projections and impacts in Africa”,” The methane challenge – Speeding up climate action in Africa” and “Agricultural systems and methane in Africa”.

According to the programme that second day will include sessions on “Waste systems and methane – An African perspective’ and “Decentralised energy systems as a pathway for methane reduction and climate action.”

–IANS

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