Konrad Adenauer Foundation Cameroon in cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) and the University of Douala hosted the 5th symposium and 4th scientific conference of the Association of Environmental Law Lecturers in African Universities (ASSELLAU), which took place at the Hilton Hotel in Yaoundé, Cameroon from 11 - 12 January 2018.

The participants hailed the conference as a historic one in Africa. During the proceedings where highly prominent African law academics presented their work, two Cameroonian ministries were also represented (the Ministry of Higher Education at the opening and the Ministry of the Environment during the closing ceremony), showing keen interest in the proceedings.

The theme for the conference was Law / Environment / Africa. Core topics of discussion focused on climate change law, energy law, pollution prevention, land regulation and water and natural resources governance. The conference was held in both official languages of Cameroon, English and French, with parallel sessions. It was an opportunity for the 50 invited experts from all over Africa to present their papers and discuss the latest issues pertaining to environmental law on the continent. The conference proceedings and the presentations will be captured in an internationally available book publication later this year.

At the occasion of the conference the recently published KAS publication was launched: “The Impact of Climate Change Law on the Principle of State Sovereignty over Natural Resources”. Professor Patricia Kameri-Mbote, the chairperson of ASSELLAU cordially thanked the KAS team for the excellent cooperation. Professor Oliver Ruppel, KAS resident representative in Cameroon and a longstanding member of ASSELLAU, congratulated the association for its enormous impact on environmental law teaching, research and publication over the past 14 years of its existence.