Speech prepared for delivery at the World Environment Day celebrations 2021 hosted by the government of Pakistan.
Thank you to Prime Minister Imran Khan, Minister Malik Amin Aslam Khan and the Ministry of Climate Change - for hosting World Environment Day – the largest global platform for outreach on the environmental challenges of our time.
World Environment Day 2021 marks the launch of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration which aims to reverse the damage we have caused to nature. We must spare no effort to make the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration a success. Because we must stabilize the climate, we must protect nature and stem pollution, to create a world where the Sustainable Development Goals thrive.
Restoring ecosystems is a remarkable solution. It slows climate change. Brings back lost biodiversity. Creates productive land for agriculture. Provides jobs. Restores nature’s buffers against zoonotic diseases and pandemics. Helps vulnerable communities adapt to the changing climate.
Ecosystem restoration alone won’t solve all of our problems. We must stop further ecosystem destruction. But how? By reforming agriculture. By changing how we build our cities. By decarbonizing our economies. By moving to circular economic models. And restoration, as a quick-acting solution, can buy us time to make these transformations.
This is why the Decade for Ecosystem Restoration aims to prevent, to halt and to reverse the loss of ecosystems.
Momentum for restoration is growing. We now have commitments to restore one billion hectares of land, about half of all that is degraded. And Pakistan is showing us the way. The Prime Minister recently planted the one billionth tree of the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Programme. Bravo to all!
I am also encouraged by a new and innovative programme to swap debts for commitments to achieve conservation targets. Most laudable is the decision to halt the approval of new coal power plants and to pivot to renewables. As climate change is a key driver of desertification and ecosystem degradation, such a move is great news for nature.
The task now for Pakistan and all nations is to build on the momentum and deliver on all commitments. But how?
First, we need to get the finance flowing.
To meet climate, biodiversity and land degradation targets, financial flows to nature-based solutions must triple by 2030 and increase four-fold by 2050. So, governments must allocate funds to restoration in COVID-19 recovery packages. Businesses, banks, investors and insurers must reform their operations and financial flows to restore the natural world.
A key step is to start using the Inclusive Wealth measure of growth. Such an approach measures natural capital alongside human and produced capital. It allows us to make investment decisions that back sustainable growth and prosperity.
For example, UNEP’s recent Inclusive Wealth analysis of Pakistan’s economy showed that afforestation efforts underway are likely to increase natural capital and inclusive wealth. Pakistan’s economy is growing in the right direction.
Second, we must protect those who manage the land, in law and deed.
Research shows that lands managed by local communities suffer less degradation. To empower local communities, we must recognize the right to a healthy environment, and back it with the full force of the law. Here, Pakistan has also taken strides, with green benches in its Supreme Court and all Provincial High Courts across the country.
Third, it is time to make our cities green havens.
As our world urbanizes, we need to make nature a fundamental part of our cities. There is much we can do. Backing urban agriculture. Expanding green spaces. Integrating nature’s infrastructure with built infrastructure. This will deliver enormous benefits to city life including natural cooling, cleaner air, food security and healthier people.
Fourth, it is equally important to restore the blue planet.
We have huge commitments on land restoration. But our marine and coastal ecosystems are also in trouble. We need to see a massive increase in restoration commitments on marine and coastal ecosystems, with backing from donors.
Friends, if we work hard in these four areas – to get finance flows in tune with nature; to protect those that manage land; to make our cities green; and to restore the blue planet – we will heal nature. We will slow climate change. We will feed the world. We will protect vulnerable communities. We will reduce pandemic risks. We will in essence, make everybody’s lives better.
Thank you, again, to Pakistan for your efforts. I encourage Pakistan now to keep delivering on your ambitious commitments. And I encourage all other nations to follow Pakistan’s leadership and make the decade a roaring success.
Thank you.
Executive Director
