Former Presidents call on African Governments to ‘invest in nature’
Yurúa Conservation Concession, Peru | Photo credit: Jason Houston
Four former African Heads of State have joined the Campaign for Nature’s Global Steering Committee, asking governments across the world to structure their economic recovery plans around nature-based solutions and be part of a global effort to protect 30% of the world’s land and sea by 2030.
Olusegun Obasanjo, Former President of Nigeria; Ernest Bai Koroma, Former President of Sierra Leone; Hailemariam Desalegn, Former Prime Minister of Ethiopia; and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Former President of Liberia and Nobel Laureate, have all joined the Global Steering Committee to promote the continent’s efforts against biodiversity loss and climate change through the increase and better management of of terrestrial and marine protected areas.
Also joining the committee are former presidents from Asia and South America, former Ministers of State and Foreign Affairs and high-level government advisors, who will be campaigning around the world to halt biodiversity loss and prevent mass extinctions.
Chaired by former US Senator Russ Feingold, who was President Obama’s Envoy to the Great Lakes Region, the Committee has placed the economic and social benefits of biodiversity at the core of its campaign. Senator Feingold has stressed how nature-based solutions help job creation and prevent the negative effects of biodiversity loss.
He said, “Nature conservation should be a central element of any stimulus and recovery plan. By protecting more nature, governments around the world can simultaneously create jobs, avoid long-term costs associated with climate change and biodiversity loss, and help guard against future pandemics.”
In a joint statement, the Global Steering Committee said that governments around the world should ‘invest in nature’, an often overlooked contributor to the economy - a ‘forgotten stimulus’, but one with benefits for both people and nature, drawing on this report.
The prominence of the four former African leaders on the committee highlights the important role Africa has to play in the Convention on Biodiversity and the formation of it’s Post-2020 Agenda. Africa has an opportunity to be a leader in green economic growth, carving out a sustainable path to prosperity, when other continents may have failed to do so in time.
In an official statement Ernest Bai Koroma, Former President of Sierra Leone said, “Throughout the world, and certainly across Africa, local communities around protected areas are suffering and need help. It's obvious that Mother Earth is hurting and we're all feeling the pain. Governments around the world should therefore step up now to support these protected areas and communities, for our own good.”
Currently, only 15.1 percent of the world’s land is protected which is just shy of the previous 17 percent target set for 2020. However only 7.4 percent of marine area is conserved, markedly less than the 10 percent target committed to in Aichi 2010.
Hailemariam Desalegn, Former Prime Minister of Ethiopia was confident that Africa could rise to the global challenge and become a leading international force against climate change.
He noted; “Africa is perfectly positioned to show the world the importance of protected areas and the need to protect at least 30 percent of the planet’s land and ocean. When adequately funded, protected areas improve the wellbeing of local communities and serve as home to the world’s most remarkable wildlife.”
The full membership of the Committee is as follows;
Russ Feingold, Former US Senator and former Special Envoy to Great Lakes Region of Africa
Olusegun Obasanjo, Former President of Nigeria
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Former President of Liberia
Ernest Bai Koroma, Former President of Sierra Leone
Hailemariam Desalegn, Former Prime Minister of Ethiopia
Christiana Figueres, Former Executive Secretary UNFCCC
José María Figueres, Former President of Costa Rica
Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, Former President of Iceland
Zakri Abdul Hamid, Former Science Advisor to Prime Minister of Malaysia
Tzipi Livni, Former Foreign Minister of Israel
Susanna Malcorra, Former Foreign Minister of Argentina
Amre Moussa, Former Foreign Minister of Egypt
Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland
Emil Salim, Former Environmental Minister of Indonesia
Yongyuth Yuthavong, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand
Congresswoman Deb Haaland (Honorary Member)
The Campaign for Nature’s Global Steering Committee is supported by the Wyss Foundation and National Geographic.