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Leaders Gathered Ahead of Summit to Advance Nature in the Climate Agenda

By Cheyenne Maddox

NEW YORK -- September 22, 2019 -- The biggest event to focus on nature-based climate solutions outside of the UN was held last night on the eve of the official Climate Summit. More than 500 people attended including heads of state, indigenous community leaders, renowned activists and representatives from leading environmental organisations, to join forces to better harness the power of nature to solve the climate emergency.

Nature-based solutions, such as protecting forests and farming which increases tree cover, stand to offer a third of the emissions reductions needed by 2030 to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees.

Announcements shared included:

  • Amazon Sacred Headwater Initiativecalled to permanently protect 30 million hectares of rainforest
  • Costa Rica, the Seychelles, Mozambique, Gabon, the UAE and Monaco commit to a new High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People to protect 30 percent of the planet’s natural systems by 2030
  • Just Rural Transitioninitiative launched to support a shift to fairer food and land use systems, and transform investment to support ecosystem services and rural and coastal livelihoods
  • The Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) presented the new Growing Betterreport, the first integrated, global assessment of the huge benefits of transforming our food and land use systems, and the growing costs of inaction
  • The Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG), Republic of Indonesia, announced two new rural business zones in Sumatra and Kalimantan for sustainable and inclusive investment in Indonesian peatland

The opening included a screening of a short film by Tom Mustill featuring George Monbiot and Greta Thunberg who said, “we are ignoring natural climate solutions."

Tuntiak Katan, Vice-coordinator of Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations from the Amazon Basin (COICA), launching the Sacred Headwater Initiative said, “We resist not be killed, we resist because we want to continue living.”

Farhana Yamin, International lawyer and climate activist said, “Each one of us should rebel for life. The way we respond to ecocide is going to make or break our future.”

FOLU’s analysis shows it is possible to bring climate change under control, protect nature, improve food security and strengthen rural economies while unlocking 4.5 trillion USD per year in new business opportunities by 2030.

But, as Per Pharo, FOLU Global Report Editor and Lead Author, remarked, “We are facing an existential choice. Which side will you be on? Either we shape a better future or we will get a future we do not like.”

Participants at the event aim to catalyse a multi-stakeholder movement that will carry into to 2020, when a number of landmark events will focus the world's attention on nature and climate. Essential among them, the UN will host its first ever UN Nature Summit in September, and signatories to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity will adopt a new global biodiversity policy at the 15th Conference of the Parties in October in Kunming, China, to pave the way for transformative pathways to achieve the 2050 Vision of the Convention to live in Harmony with Nature.

Keynotes, exhibitions, live debate and film presented nature-based solutions that are already re-shaping this trillion-dollar global industry. The intention behind the event is to inspire governments, businesses, investors and consumers to act now.

PRESS CONTACT: Natasha Ferrari, Natasha.Ferrari@systemiq.earth, +447788594911

NOTES TO EDITORS

For more live quotes from the night see: https://twitter.com/FOLUCoalition

Event was co-hosted by organisations and groups including: Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa ( AGRA ), Conservation International ( CI ), Convention on Biological Diversity ( CBD ), EAT , Food and Land Use Coalition ( FOLU ), Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition ( GAIN ), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis ( IIASA ), National Geographic Society ( NGS ), Nature4Climate ( N4C ), Partnership For Forests ( P4F ), Sustainable Development Solutions Network ( SDSN ), SYSTEMIQ ( SIQ ), Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA ), United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP ), World Business Council for Sustainable Development ( WBCSD ), World Economic Forum ( WEF ) and World Resources Institute ( WRI ).

Exhibitors included: Canapes and food stations featuring Knorr Future 50 Foods and Impossible Foods, P4F, catalysing investment in forests and sustainable land use: see link , Nourishing Africa Hub, agri-food entrepreneurs transforming Africa’s agricultural landscape: see link , Peatland Restoration Agency, Badan Restorasi Gambut (BRG), Republic of Indonesia (see link ): introducing eco-friendly fashion products and healthy snacks, Conservation International virtual reality: see link , Oktoberforest, brewers helping to protect forests: see link , Impossible Foods (see link ), making meat using plants: catering partners with live demo, Ellen Macarthur Foundation (see link ), inspiring a positive future circular economy: art exhibit