It is high time we put old narratives around the African continent being passive recipients of aid to bed, for our own good and for that of the planet. 

While it is true that Africa has been disproportionately burdened with nature loss and climate change, especially when compared with our limited contribution to the problem, we are not and should not be passive in the fight to stop this.

With the Africa Climate Summit and G20 Heads of State Summit on the horizon, it is time to draw clear lines in the sand and move beyond the division and blame that has defined past efforts to conserve nature and halt climate change.

We should instead rebuild international trust through the delivery of both domestic and international financial investments – like those made at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in 2022, to increase nature finance to at least $20-billion a year by 2025 – and to operate as partners in the protection of our global commons.

Read the Campaign for Nature Global Steering Committee’s open letter here. The letter calls on governments to urgently prioritise nature financing.

New global financial architecture

Earlier this year, speaking at the New Global Financial Pact Summit in France, Kenyan President William Ruto made a compelling case for an end to business as usual and the need for a new global financial architecture to prevent and combat climate change and its attendant consequences on the continent.

These are sentiments that I have long agreed with.

There is a time and a place for aid, certainly – like, for example, when tackling health epidemics or pandemics – but we get nowhere by continually seeking handouts and expressing grievances; in fact, we do ourselves a disservice.

Africans are equally placed to take a leading role in the fight against climate change and nature loss, and we are more than capable of being active participants in the search for solutions, rather than relying on external assistance. 

And with the African continent being home to more than one-quarter of the world’s mammal species, one-fifth of the world’s bird species, and at least one-sixth of the world’s plant species, we simply must step up to that role.

But this must be a team effort: as the saying goes, “Teamwork makes the dream work”. 

Nature knows no boundaries and neither should our efforts to protect it. 

Bold nature conservation targets require substantial financial investment such as the commitment made at COP15 for wealthier nations to support the Global South through an increase in nature finance to at least $20-billion a year by 2025.

If realised, the commitment will be vital in unlocking Africa’s domestic resources and agency – for example, studies have shown that every dollar invested in restoration creates up to $30 in economic benefits. Thus, the investments to be made should not be seen as a handout, but rather an investment in our collective futures.

Further declines in Africa’s biodiversity will threaten millions of livelihoods, increase food insecurity, conflict and the transmission of zoonotic diseases, all of which have knock-on effects outside of our borders.

Congo Basin

One great example of this is the Congo Basin – a 240-million-hectare rainforest crossing eight African countries and supporting the livelihoods of 80 million people in the region. This incredible ecosystem is vital for both domestic and international stability, and the funding for its protection should reflect that.

Should this ecosystem be further degraded, or worse, eroded, the region – which is already struggling with social and political instability – could find itself with even higher rates of poverty and unemployment, risking greater destabilisation. 

This will have devastating consequences for global supply chains, agricultural production and trade routes.

This ecosystem may seem “out of sight and out of mind” for many, but the implications of its collapse would be far-reaching, not least because the Congo Basin is also often referred to as the world’s second green lung. The basin absorbs 1.5 billion tons of carbon every year, offsetting more than the entire African continent’s annual emissions.

Other examples are the Benguela Current, found in the southeastern Atlantic, and the Canary Current found in the northeastern Atlantic. They are two of the world’s 64 large marine ecosystems which collectively provide 80% of the global marine fisheries catch.

These types of marine ecosystems are of immense significance to the West African communities that live alongside and depend on them for subsistence. They are also critical to the global food supply chain. We should be sharing the cost of their protection – equally and in a collective partnership.

Zoonotic diseases

Finally, let us consider the role of ecosystems that are intact and undisturbed by human activities in protecting us from diseases. 

As former President of Sierra Leone, I know all too well the risk that zoonotic diseases pose to humankind, having overseen my country’s recovery from a deadly Ebola outbreak between 2013 and 2014.

For a long time, this was something only a few leaders had to deal with, including my sister on the Campaign for Nature Global Steering Committee, former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. That was until 2020 when the world ground to a halt with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease.

While the exact origins of Covid-19 remain unclear, we do know that tropical forest edges are a major launchpad for novel human viruses, and as humans encroach further, clearing forests to build roads, increase timber production or expand agricultural practices, the risk of a new virus emerging rises significantly.

In fact, the World Health Organization found that there has been a  63% increase in the number of zoonotic outbreaks in Africa (particularly in the DRC and Nigeria) in the decade from 2012-2022 compared with 2001-2011. 

When we consider that the Covid-19 outbreak cost us $12.5-trillion globally, it is clear to me that the protection of these forests is a small price we should all be paying for our future safety – Africans and non-Africans alike.

For these reasons and many others, as world leaders move to implement the historic agreement made at COP15, it is imperative that they prioritise efforts to increase biodiversity funding domestically and internationally.

But they must approach it in a progressive and transformational manner. 

The approach to be used should recognise that nature conservation clearly provides a vehicle through which developed nations can compensate nations like ours in Africa for the damage caused to our ecosystems through overconsumption and global warming.

This would also provide governments in the developing world with the initial investment they need to unlock domestic efforts to protect key ecosystems that serve us all.

The outcome will drive local employment and economic prosperity, secure food and water sources, improve regional security and allow us to leverage additional private capital.

With that, we can turbocharge our economies in a sustainable, just and nature-friendly way – all of which is good news for our brothers and sisters in the Global North.

Let us be your trusted partners in the fight against biodiversity loss and climate change and let us trust you to deliver on the promises made at COP15 that will allow us to realise our true potential as stewards of our global commons. DM

Ernest Bai Koroma is the former President of Sierra Leone and a member of the Campaign for Nature Global Steering Committee who today released this open letter calling on governments to urgently prioritise nature financing – specifically the $20-billion by 2025 goal.