The Regional Implementation Centres (RICs) of the African Monitoring of Environment for Sustainable Development (AMESD) programme showcased their products and services in the African Pavilion at the Seventeenth Conference of Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Seventh Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP7). The event took place in Durban, South Africa, from November 28 to 9 December 2011.

Launched on the 28th of November by the Presidents Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Idriss Déby of Chad, and Vice President Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos of Angola, the African Pavilion attracted more than 10,000 visitors.

The Pavilion, which was located within the UNFCCC precinct for COP17/CMP7, catered a 500 square meter replica of the equatorial forest. It hosted some 100 roundtables and high-level conferences covering all aspects of climate change in Africa that were attended by higher officials of the continent, and worldwide.

Under the coordination of AMESD headquarters, representatives from the Regional Implementation Centres of AGRHYMET from the ECOWAS region, IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Centre (ICPAC) from the IGAD region and Commission Internationale du Bassin Congo-Oubangui-Sangha (CICOS) from CEMAC region exhibited their services and formed informal alliances with continental and global environmental initiatives. AUC Chair person, REA Commisioner and several high level policy makers visited the AMESD stands and were informed on different typologies of thematic services and their usefulness in promoting a sustainable environmental management.

As part of the added value to measuring the impacts of climate change, AMESD products and services aims to provide updated environmental data to African policy makers to support decision making for sustainable development in the continent.

The Pavilion was organized by the African Union Commission (AUC), Republic of South Africa (RSA) and African Development Bank (AfDB) with a support from the Coordinator of the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC).