UNFCCC COP28 – CBCGDF Delegate at COP28’s Theme Event on "Nature First: From Land to Ocean, Our Best Ally for Climate Action"

On December 4, Dr. Edoardo Monaco, China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) Delegate at COP28 joined an event entitled “Nature First: From Land to Ocean, our Best Ally for Climate Action”, organised by, among others, the Marrakech Partnership, FAO and IUCN.

Relevant panel speakers hailing from a variety of sectors and world regions converged onto the stage to address some of the most pressing issues facing climate, land and oceans and their close interconnection.

The first panel discussion involved Julian Hill-Landolt, Senior Director at WBCSD; Jennifer Corpuz, Representative of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities at Niatero; Melissa Garvey, Global Director for Nature Bonds at the Nature Conservancy. Above all, the talk highlighted, through each speaker respectively: 1) the importance of data standardisation and harmonisation to ensure alignment and convergence across multiple climate frameworks; 2) the need for climate solutions to be mindful of the needs (and truly inclusive of the expertise) of indigenous peoples; 3) the big opportunity to invest in the business of “conservation of nature” via re-financing developing countries’ debt (as pioneered in the Seychelles in 2016, and then continued in countries like Barbados and most recently Gabon). Debt distress (mostly lent by commercial banks, not by other countries), in fact, is an often overlooked added burden on those very countries that are often among most vulnerable to biodiversity loss and climate change (for more consult https://www.ssdh.net).

The second panel discussion brought together Dr. Megan Morikawa, Global Director of  Sustainability for Iberostar Hotels, who spoke of her experience as a marine researcher jumping from academia into the private sector and in particular in the realm of hospitality management so as to manage first-hand the impact that hotels and resorts have on coastal ecosystems; Moafanua Tolusina Pouli, Assistant CEO at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Government of Samoa, Abdou Karim Sall, from Senegal’s Management Committee of the Joal-Fadiouth Marine Protected Area, and Gabriel Muswali, Manager for Agricultural Production from Earfish in Kenya, who shared their personal experience with dwindling resources and mounting climate pressure in the Pacific Ocean, in West Africa and in East Africa respectively.

Last but not least, after the official unveiling of the 2024 Edinburgh Ocean Leaders, the third panel gathered Minna Epps, Director of Global Marine and Polar Programme at IUCN; Antonella Battaglini, CEO of Renewables Grid Initiative; and Manuel Barange, Director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division at FAO; Anna Lindstedt, Swedish Ambassador for Ocean. Healthy oceans are fundamental to the best functioning of other ecosystems too, as well as to any climate adaptation and mitigation effort. Nature based solutions are indeed important, but they are themselves threatened by climate change: IUCN (co-leading with Conservation International one of five “Ocean Breakthroughs” https://climatechampions.unfccc.int/system/oceanbreakthroughs/#,  on Marine Conservation) advocates the rapid phasing out of fossil fuels so at to “remove threats, build resilience and enhance recovery” in the shortest time frame possible.

The connection between climate change and food security was duly highlighted by the FAO representative, who in particular reminded of the importance of aquatic foods to feed the growing world population (expected to encompass around 165,000 additional mouths every single day till 2050) thanks to their low environmental footprint and high feed-to-flesh transformation efficiency.

Ms. Battaglini advocated a “reconciliation between energy and nature”, and most crucially announced the most recent (December 5, 2023) launch of an initiative called “GINGR” (Global Initiative for Nature, Grids and Renewables, https://www.gingr.org), in collaboration with IUCN, which aims at creating a monitoring and reporting mechanism to effectively track progress in protecting biodiversity while simultaneously deploying renewables and electricity grids.

Credit: Edoardo Monaco @ CBCGDF COP28 Delegation

From Dr. Edoardo Monaco, CBCGDF Delegate to COP28

Original article: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/0S_F7kTXfmSBthi-jHuxZA 

Translator: Richard

Checked by: YJ

Contact: v10@cbcgdf.org; +8617319454776

 

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