Green check A web-based platform has been launched to showcase sustainable development initiatives in Africa that address the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The platform supports the African Green Stimulus programme, which is an African-led response to the socio-economic and environmental effects of the pandemic. The programme will promote the continent’s recovery and its sustainable development objectives by forging partnerships between African countries, inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations, the public sector and global investors. The website, hosted by the AU’s Development Agency, enables users to access, share and update details of the programme’s portfolio of green projects and initiatives. ‘Such a recovery has the potential to create opportunities for entrepreneurship, income generation, jobs and growth, particularly for women and the youth, and at the same time, to accelerate action on attaining short-, medium- and long-term environmental goals, both nationally, regionally and globally,’ according to Barbara Creecy, South Africa’s Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, and outgoing president of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment. 28 September 2021 Image: Gallo/Getty Images