Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen.
As we meet today, our thoughts are with the people of Beirut as they recover from the devastation wrought by the port explosion, and all those suffering from the health and economic impacts of the pandemic.
The priority when catastrophe strikes is, quite rightly, on delivering the support victims so desperately need. We have seen this solidarity in action over the last weeks, with governments pledging hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Lebanon. UNEP is on the ground, working closely with entities involved in the emergency response to ensure that environmental risks associated with this explosion are appropriately addressed.
This meeting comes as the world faces turmoil, massive environmental risks and increasing natural disasters. We are here to do something about this worrying situation – by using the pandemic recovery to build back better, placing planetary health at the heart of all our decisions.
In this regard, allow me to extend my sincere thanks to the Government of Bahrain for co-organizing this meeting.
Ministers,
We have backed the planet, and by extension ourselves, into a corner through the triple planetary crisis of nature loss, climate change and pollution.
We know – from our close engagement with you – that governments in West Asia are working hard to address these rising challenges – seeking to protect nature, promoting greater resource efficiency innovation in energy transitions, and adapting to climate change. We recognize the positive steps regional governments are taking to address regional and global crises: for example, efforts by governments to invest in renewable clean energy sources,[1] and efforts to protect nature and promote biodiversity, to name but a few.
We also recognize how complex addressing environmental challenges can be, especially in conflict zones. Last month, I briefed the UN Security Council on the need for access to the FSO Safer. This Floating Storage and Offloading Unit, anchored off Yemen, could at any moment give way and cause a massive oil leak. The Safer holds an estimated four times as much oil that spilled from the Exxon Valdez. Time is running out to prevent catastrophic damage to Red Sea ecosystems and the livelihoods of 28 million people, with knock-on effects for security in the region.
UNEP also completed a report on the State of the Environment in Palestine, which was published in May. Palestinian environmental policy-makers face heavy constraints. UNEP has delivered fully on the agreed scope of environmental assessment work; we are now planning follow-up actions to ensure that investments towards recovery from the COVID-19 crisis in Palestine also help to promote environmental protection and green growth. I would like to thank the State of Palestine for the support to UNEP throughout this process, and to commend the Palestinian leadership for pushing for the full inclusion of environmental issues into the UN’s COVID-19 response plan, drawing on many of the findings of the UNEP report.
COVID-19 has, of course, added to the challenges we face – in West Asia and globally. Before 2020, we knew it would be difficult to implement the many international agreements designed to protect the environment, from the 2030 Agenda to the Paris Agreement. Despite the many promises made under these agreements, the actions backing them are not even close to enough.
We knew this before, but perhaps we did not feel it enough. COVID-19 has made us feel it. This virus has brought humanity to its knees, exposing glaring inequalities across the globe by hitting the poorest and most vulnerable the hardest.
COVID-19 in West Asia
As is the case elsewhere in the world, COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on countries in the region, exposing serious fault lines and vulnerabilities in societies, institutions and economies. COVID-19 is a deadly threat to over 26 million refugees and Internally Displaced Persons hosted in the region. Many of these people live in informal settlements or camps, with inadequate access to healthcare services, water or sanitation. We must do everything we can to protect them.
And we know that the economic damage will cause more suffering. West Asia’s economies are expected to to contract by 3.5 per cent, on average, in 2020, followed by a slow recovery in 2021.
The triple planetary crisis of climate, nature, and pollution
Ministers,
We have long been told that such a pandemic, and the damage it would cause, was a case of “when, not if”. But we did not prepare appropriately or mitigate the risks. It is, perhaps, a flaw of human nature that we do not fully grasp the danger until it is upon us.
Now we have no excuse. We must act.
We must start with the knowledge that COVID-19 is not a standalone problem. It is part of the triple planetary crisis – which springs from humanity’s relentless expansion and unsustainable consumption and production.
Nature and biodiversity loss brings humanity into closer contact with zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19, while destroying the natural systems that keep us alive. Perched at the top of a tree, we are sawing at the trunk beneath us for firewood.
Climate change is already bringing forest fires, extreme heatwaves, devastating droughts and terrifying floods across the globe. Without action, we can expect an intensification of such impacts as we face the very real risk of missing the Paris target of holding warming to 1.5°C.
Pollution and poor management of chemicals and waste causes all manner of problems – from the haze that hangs over many of the major cities in the world, slowing poisoning millions of people and the environment, to the horrific scenes we witnessed in Beirut.
Addressing the triple crisis in COVID-19 recovery
But while I have painted a bleak picture, we now have a real opportunity to do something about it by ensuring the health of the planet is prioritized in recovery plans.
So far, more than 150 policy solutions have been introduced by countries of the West Asia region in response to the pandemic. Most of these policies target economic and protection support. This is understandable to a degree, but it is also a wasted opportunity.
If we look at the numbers, investing in a green recovery is the only thing that makes economic sense. This zoonotic outbreak is incurring trillions of US dollars in costs across the globe. New research, meanwhile, suggests that a series of measures to protect the natural world and ecosystem services would cost a mere 2 per cent of the post-COVID-19 recovery bill.
There is global commitment to address the COVID-19 pandemic. G20 leaders, at the COVID-19 summit, clearly committed to “protect human life, restore global economic stability, and lay out solid foundations for strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth”. I commend the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its able leadership of the G20. UNEP is pleased to continue to offer its support to the Presidency in ensuring a successful G20 process and outcome.
To deliver on this commitment, nations should look at five key points to include in stimulus plans:
- The centrality of “green and decent” jobs and income – especially taking steps to promote a green energy transition, which implies ending subsidies of fossil fuels.
- Investments in public wealth and social and ecological infrastructure. This includes enhancing governance, management and monitoring of the environment and natural resources.
- Circularity to advance sustainable consumption and production, with a focus on water. Climate-related water scarcity in this region is expected to cause economic losses estimated at 6 to 14 per cent of GDP by 2050, the highest in the world.[2] But water scarcity is not new to the region; we can use traditional practices and new technologies to increase the sustainability and efficiency of water use.[3]
- Responsible finance for climate stability and ecosystems integrity.
- Socially inclusive outcomes.
As the region strengthens its infrastructure investments, environment authorities can put their stamp on these plans by making them sustainable.
Stimulus in the context of global processes
Ministers,
Now is the time to implement our promises and stretch our commitments for a better and more sustainable future. In this context, I call on all countries to take earnest efforts to make real the promise of Paris by increasing their commitments in the new Nationally Determined Contributions
Just as important is agreeing a strong and appropriate post-2020 biodiversity framework. At COP15 we expect an agreement with ambitious, clear and common targets for a nature-positive world. An agreement with clarity on financing, capacity development, transparency and accountability. And an agreement that has buy-in from sectors and groups, both public and private, that drive biodiversity loss: agriculture, infrastructure, public works, municipal planning and consumers.
We do it together, or not at all
I look forward to continued collaboration and partnerships with West Asian governments. In particular, it would be inspiring to see more global environment initiatives that are initiated from and led by this region, giving it a stronger voice on the world stage and more coherent implementation at regional level. This can be supported and guided by the presence of a regular regional forum as we head to the fifth UN Environment Assembly in 2021. We are clearly seeing the benefit of such Fora in other UNEP regions.
You are the leaders of the environment sector for West Asia. Therefore, your actions can help solve some of humanity’s biggest challenges. In this virtual room lies the power to make the right decisions. We need your leadership and help put nature and environmental stewardship at the heart of COVID-19 recovery. We at UNEP look forward to supporting you and to collaborating with you.
Thank you.
Executive Director
[1] https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2017/11/21/reforming-fossil-fuel-subsidies-for-a-cleaner-future
[2] Water Management in Fragile Systems: Building Resilience to Shocks and Protracted Crises in The Middle East and North Africa, World Bank and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2018, available here: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2018/08/28/effective-management-of-water-resources-in-arab-world-key-to-future-growth-and-stability
[3]One example is Tunisia’s revitalization of traditional water management structures and their fusion with small- and large-scale hydraulic solutions, which have brought benefits to both farmers and regional ecosystems. See R. Berndtsson, S. Jebarib, H. Hashemia and J. Wessels, Traditional irrigation techniques in MENA with a focus on Tunisia, HYDROLOGICAL SCIENCES JOURNAL – JOURNAL DES SCIENCES HYDROLOGIQUES, 2016 VOL. 61, NO. 7, 1346–1357
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2016.1165349 Special section: Hydrology and Peace in the Middle East
