By Amin Kef Sesay
In Glasgow, United Kingdom, on the 1st November 2021 President Dr Julius Maada Bio addressed the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) of the UN Framework Conventions on Climate Change (UNFCCC) during which he promised a climate-resilient future and continued by making a case for Sierra Leone’s ecosystems, one of the most diverse in the world.
The President thanked Italy and the United Kingdom for convening the global community and mobilising concerted and collective global efforts to discuss and act on the single universal existential threat of the time – climate change.
He informed that Sierra Leone has one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world: inland wetlands and forests across 4 main relief regions, about 15,000 plant species, the most diverse fish stocks along the west coast of Africa, and 761 species of mammals and birds.
The President, however, lamented that the country is highly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, rapid biodiversity and tree cover loss, and the attendant threats to human habitat, health, food, and water security. As a consequence, he continued, other fall-outs like poverty, gender disparities, and youth unemployment are intensifying especially in the COVID-19 era.
President Bio told the audience that his Government is doing the very best they can in the circumstances.
“We are fully committed to all international agreements and actions to develop a climate resilient future,” he informed.
He talked about how his Government have established a stand-alone Ministry of the Environment and recently reviewed and updated the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution, National Climate Change Policy, and National Climate Change Strategy and Action Plans.
“We have identified environmental pressure points and we are implementing coherent mitigation and adaption strategies,” he stated adding that within limited resources, they have underscored climate change actions in national development planning and budgeting processes in alignment with outcomes derived from the UNFCCC process.
President Bio touched on how they have enhanced the conservation and protection of natural habitats and ecosystems, improved meteorological services, integrated water resource management and community-based adaptation strategies in the agriculture sector, and promoted climate change risk-management.
He mentioned how they are promoting alternative renewable energy in off-grid solar networks and stepping up tree-planting to restore 960,000 hectares of depleted forests.
“ We believe that establishing a green economy should focus on restoring and protecting, investing in, consuming sustainably, and being accountable and inclusive,” he pointed out maintaining that as Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently stated, it is indeed “right and lucrative to be green” establishing how they want to work collectively toward that goal.
President Bio said good climate policies and ambitions alone, such as ours in Sierra Leone, may however fall short. Additionally, due to high debt servicing, Sierra Leone lacks the fiscal space to scale up investments in climate change actions.
“ We therefore agree with Kermit the Frog, that being African and being one of the Least Developed Countries, ‘it is not that easy being green,” he stated underscoring how the country is in need of technical support to introduce or implement enabling regulatory and structural reforms.
The Head of State said his Government is eager to work with partners to further ease the investment climate, co-create projects, and map out incentives for potential green and ESG investments.
“We urgently need investments in digital infrastructure and technology if we are to acquire better GIS data, improve marine conservation and management, promote nature-based solution and just rural transitions to sustainable agriculture, introduce climate-smart agriculture and food systems that preserve our forests, and provide high-yield, improved seeds to farmers,” he made a case furthering how his Government stand ready to invest in green energy sources with smaller environmental footprints.
He talked of how they have introduced some off-grid solar electrification to some towns but need to expand those investments to other towns and make them even more affordable. Cheaper and affordable solar systems will expand energy access to more Sierra Leoneans, he informed.
President Bio called on all to invest in affordable, competitively-priced, low-carbon energy sources for cooking and other domestic uses in order to avoid the indiscriminate felling of trees for firewood and charcoal.
He stresses the need to invest in green urban planning, sustainable urban waste management, green mass-transit transportation systems, and stricter emissions testing and enforcement to reduce emission footprints.
“We need technical and vocational training to support the growth of jobs created as a consequence of these investments,” he disclosed but said more importantly they believe sustained investments in an equitable education will prepare young people and women especially, to respond to climate challenges, help consolidate the gains they will make from the foregoing investments, and build a more inclusive and resilient future.
According to the President the country needs support from global climate financing streams.
Africa, he said, has access to less than 5% of global climate financing, adding how we also need the support of larger economies and the international financial community to de-risk private capital and green investments.
He stated that at this conference and beyond, Sierra Leone is determined to engage and explore all possibilities, ideas, and partnerships to achieve collective global goals saying it may not be easy being green but assured that Sierra Leoneans are determined to be green.
Agriculture is predominantly rain-fed and climate change is having a dramatic impact on fisheries and coastal zones, road and transport infrastructure is weakened by extreme weather conditions. These risks can easily transition into crisis-level situations for the country.
