UNITED NATIONS, Aug 9 (IPS) – This year’s UN conference Equator Prize Winners are the antidote we need in a world of crisis. Earlier this year, the World Economic Forum published its annual Risk Report. Its key findings highlighted the inevitable trend of the past decade that we are facing a global polycrisis, in which the problems of biodiversity loss, climate change, inequality, water scarcity and conflict are increasingly indivisible, simultaneous and systemic.
The term polycrisis is increasingly appearing in global discourse. The Financial Times has cited “polycrisis” as the “year in one word‘ for 2023.
The connections between nature and climate are particularly intertwined. If nature is protected, restored and well managed, it can more than a third of our climate mitigation needs and is essential to adapt to climate impacts.
On the other hand, current practices of forestry, land conversion and conventional agriculture are responsible for maximum quarter of all greenhouse gas emissionsSimply put, there is no chance of a 1.5 degree Celsius future without a reset in the way we think about, value and interact with nature.
To address our nature and climate crises, we need integrated, multifaceted solutions that restore our planet, tackle climate change, and help people thrive. We need signposts — practical examples — to show how we can implement integrated solutions that protect and restore nature, lock in carbon, buffer communities, and sustain livelihoods, water security, and well-being.
Integrated solutions for nature and climate are particularly important for the more than three billion people who depend directly on nature for their livelihoods and daily needs. They are most exposed to the consequences of climate change and biodiversity loss and are best placed to implement local solutions.
The theme of this year’s Equator Prize was ‘Nature for Climate Action’. 11 winnersselected from over 600 nominations, exemplify the transformative potential of indigenous and local nature-based solutions in the fight against the climate crisis.
They come from Brazil, Bangladesh, Colombia, Iran, Kenya, Morocco, Senegal and Zambia and are committed to initiatives that not only protect, conserve and restore ecosystems, but also integrate nature into planning frameworks, increase resilience to the impacts of climate change and promote a fair, inclusive and circular green economy.
In Brazil the União dos Povos Indígenas do Vale do Javarian indigenous-led non-profit organization representing Brazil’s second largest indigenous territory in the 8.5 million hectare Javari Valley, works to defend constitutional rights, preserve traditional knowledge and protect their shared territory.
In Colombia, the Federación Mesa Nacional del Café (FEMNCAFÉ) is made up of 28 coffee associations. Together with local communities, they work for the economic, social and societal reintegration of signatories to the Colombian peace agreement.
By reducing inequality among coffee farmers, democratizing technical knowledge and promoting climate-resilient agriculture, they tackle agricultural inequality, boost rural economies and directly address the challenges of climate change.
In Kenya the Partners for the Improvement of Indigenous Livelihoods (ILEPA) focuses on environmental conservation and sustainable development for the Maasai community, expanding advocacy for land rights, addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, and promoting nature-based livelihoods.
And in Bangladesh the Ecovillage Sundarbans in Bangladeshrestores mangrove forests, secures fisheries livelihoods, expands ecotourism and strengthens climate resilience.
The Equator Prize winners show the world how we can implement integrated solutions that help protect, restore and manage nature, address our climate crisis and achieve local sustainable development goals. But we also have an unprecedented global opportunity to follow their lead.
Over the next 18 months, virtually every country will refine its national biodiversity plans and their national climate planswith the opportunity to coordinate these plans and take bold steps in the areas of both nature and climate.
If the “word a year from now” for 2023 was “polycrisis,” let us hope that the “word a year from now” for 2025 is “polysolutions,” with the world at every level, from local to national to global, recognizing, advocating and implementing solutions, plans, commitments and actions that are integrated, multifaceted and aligned, and that contribute to nature, climate and people.
This year’s Equator Prize winners are already showing us the way forward!
Jamison Ervin is Manager of the Global Program on Nature for Development, UNDP; Anna Giulia Med is Senior Program Officer, Equator Initiative, UNDP.
Source: UNDP
IPS UN Office
Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
Follow IPS News UN Bureau on Instagram
© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
