My deep thanks to President Ruto for the kind invitation to speak at this important event that highlights the importance of ecosystem restoration in the climate solutions space. As the people in the Horn of Africa, Nigeria or Pakistan will tell us, climate action thus far has been too little, too slow, too late. The people of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia did not cause the climate crisis. They did not pump the atmosphere full of carbon dioxide emissions.
Yet these countries, and indeed many others, are denied access to the solutions we have at our fingertips because of lack of access to technologies or financing. In 2009 we promised that there would be USD 100 billion on the table by 2020. We are now in 2022, and we are at USD 83 billion, which is better but not enough. Let us understand that USD 100 billion was the absolute floor and that we need to see much more. The longer we delay, the higher the bill will be, and it will be the poorest that will continue to pay for our inaction.
But it is not too late. We have a limited window of opportunity. We can invest in ecosystem restoration because we know ecosystem restoration works if we give nature half a chance. If we give nature half a leg up, it will regenerate. This is good for societies, good for the global economy, and it is good for long-term sustainability.
I am impressed, therefore, by Kenya’s plan to increase the country’s forest cover to more than 30 per cent by 2032 and to plant five billion trees over the next five years. But we all know these bold initiatives require financing, solidarity, and coordination. This is not about charity but about investing in the future because, as Pacific islands say, “we are all in the same canoe”. If Kenya has climate change, we all have climate change.
The Sustainable Tree Growing Fund is a brilliant example of an innovative mechanism co-created by the Government of Kenya and the United Nations. The fund brings together UNEP, FAO, UNCDF and UNDP to help the country mobilize the millions of dollars needed for this beautiful country.
Let me end by saying we can end deforestation. We can rejuvenate water cycles. We can restore the water towers. Yes, indeed, this will take a global effort by the global community, but under the leadership of President Ruto and Kenya, we can make this happen.
