Sixty-fourth General Assembly

Plenary

9th & 10th Meetings (AM & PM)

Small Island States Warn Ecosystems Already Threatened by Climate Change Effects,
Urge Drastic Reduction in Greenhouse Gases, as Assembly Continues Debate

Say Impact - Sea Level Rise, Dying Marine Life - Shock Wave to Fragile Economies;

Major Emitters Must Ensure Resources in Place to Meet Adaptation, Mitigation Goals

Still reeling in the aftermath of a global economic crisis begun far beyond their shores, leaders of small island nations, among others addressing the General Assembly today, exhorted large economies to drastically reduce greenhouse gases that were threatening their ecosystems and sending shock waves through the very markets and industries on which their fragile economies depended.

“Global warming and climate change -- and their effects -- do not discriminate”, declared Denzil L. Douglas, Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis, as he described the massive blow that climate change had dealt to his country.  Marine life on which his people depended was fast disappearing, creating long-term and “dire” implications for food production.  Sea levels were rising, coastlines were being eroded and coral reefs were suffering.

In the interest of advancing global stability, he urged major greenhouse gas emitters to take the lead in ensuring that resources were in place for small island developing States to meet adaptation, mitigation, technology transfer and capacity-building goals, and to compensate those countries for losses stemming from climate change.  Noting that some industrialized nations had recently committed to do more to address their emissions, he expressed hope that such efforts would translate into concrete results at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

Indeed, a new climate deal was a must, said the Prime Minister of Samoa, Tuila’epa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi, and seeing it through would require a new brand of cooperation and a broad outlook.  Fighting climate change was everyone’s job --- it posed a test for multilateral solidarity and, with its effects worsening daily, the “blame game” was no longer an option.  States’ interests, no matter how divergent, were inextricably linked, a fact laid bare by the global economic crisis.

Undeterred by that prospect, his Government, along with its international partners, was bolstering its resilience by addressing plantation access roads, he said.  But, the overall costs of adapting to climate change and mitigating its effects were prohibitive, especially with a narrowed revenue base following the financial crisis and the high cost of relocating those who lived near vulnerable coastlines.

The same was true for Bangladesh, said the country’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, who explained that myriad natural disasters had interrupted agriculture and challenged water resources, health, energy and urban planning.  Countless lives had been lost and families uprooted by the thousands year round, creating millions of climate refugees.  An estimated 1 in 7 Bangladeshis would fall victim to climate change by 2050.  While some 14,000 cyclone shelters had been built and a climate change trust fund established, international resources were needed.

On a global level, she said, affected communities not only might lose their homes, they stood to lose their identity, nationality and very existence.  It was critical that the outcome of the Copenhagen Conference ensure adequate and easily accessible funding for adaptation and eco-friendly technology transfer.

India’s Minister of External Affairs, S.M. Krishna, agreed on the need for a focus on adaptation, which was crucial for developing countries. India was engaged in ongoing climate negotiations, including the upcoming Copenhagen conference, and would work for an outcome that recognized the development imperatives of developing nations, and was rooted in the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.

Offering a way forward, Jan Peter Balkennende, Prime Minister and Minister for General Affairs of the Netherlands, said his country had set aside half a billion euros to promote renewable energy use in developing countries.  During the Copenhagen Conference, the Netherlands would call for halving worldwide carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 from 1990 levels.  Indeed, the world was smaller and more complex than ever before, and solutions to such issues started with recognizing mutual dependence and responsibility.  “Don’t fear difficult moments”, he urged delegates.  “The best comes from them”.

Taking that spirit to heart on a different issue, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Prime Minister of Nepal, said landlocked countries were among the most vulnerable to the multiple crises facing an increasingly interconnected world.  As one of several leaders from those nations to address the Assembly, he said Nepal’s situation was made even more unique by its ongoing political transition after years of civil unrest.  Its Constituent Assembly of 601 members, elected through a mixed-proportional system, was writing a new, democratic republican Constitution.

While determined to reach the goal of a peaceful, prosperous and stable Nepal, he also cautioned that, just as freedom rang hollow where there was no development, development lost its soul if unaccompanied by freedom.  Aware that failure to provide peace held unintended consequences, he requested special support from Nepal’s development partners in addressing its post-conflict challenges.

On that point, Burundi’s Second Vice-President, Gabriel Ntisezerana, said that the last rebel movement in his country had laid down their arms and were being integrated into the social and Governmental structures.  With the return of peace and democratically elected institutions, a sense of trust was being regained.  He thanked the United Nations for helping to create that environment.

Also speaking today were the Prime Ministers of Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, Tuvalu, Trinidad and Tobago, Lesotho, Tonga, Albania, Fiji, Guinea-Bissau and Sri Lanka.

The Deputy Prime Ministers of Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Cambodia and Jamaica also spoke.

Also addressing the Assembly were the foreign affairs ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Slovakia, Morocco, Austria, United Arab Emirates, Belgium, Bulgaria, Iceland, Belarus, Ethiopia, Romania, Brunei Darussalam, Liechtenstein, Canada and Andorra.

Speaking in exercise of the right of reply were the representatives of Iran, Serbia, United Arab Emirates and Albania.

The General Assembly will reconvene at 9 a.m. Monday, 28 September, to resume its general debate.

Background

The General Assembly reconvened today to continue its general debate.

Statements

GABRIEL NTISEZERANA, Second Vice-President of Burundi, thanked the international community and the United Nations for supporting and restoring peace, which had returned to his country.  He requested that consultative status be granted by the United Nations to the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region, which was working to maintain dialogue and cooperation and to ensure political stability and development in the region.

Noting that Burundi’s last rebel movement had laid down their arms and were being integrated into the social and governmental structure, he said that, with the return of peace and democratically elected institutions, a sense of trust was being regained among the country’s citizens.  Internally displaced persons were returning.  Former combatants were being reintegrated.  However, that process was not without constraints, particularly given limited resources and land.  Support from the international community was still needed to ensure reintegration efforts.

He said that the Government had also set up a commission aimed at encouraging Burundians to hand in their weapons.  It was further clamping down on crimes linked to the use of firearms.  A decree to these ends had just been made.  The Government also welcomed support for its national reconciliation efforts.  It was essential that Burundi find success in this transitional justice step.

Farther afield, Burundi was working to ensure peace throughout Africa by participating in peacekeeping missions in the Central African Republic, Darfur and Somalia.  Tragically, 25 Burundians had been killed and more than 30 had been wounded in suicide attacks against African Union troops in Somalia.  Public outcry in Burundi calling for the return of troops had followed that carnage, and the Government believed that the United Nations Mission’s mandate must be modified to allow contingents to take the offensive, pursuing aggressors where necessary and in accordance with Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.  Among other things, air-strike capacity should be granted, additional troops deployed without delay and the sanctions that had been long promised against Governments and groups supporting Islamist extremist groups should be enacted.

He said that, in the run-up to local and national elections, Burundi’s Government was resolved that an environment of calm should prevail.  Towards that goal, electoral structures were being strengthened.  The Government planned to grant $7 million to the Independent Electoral Commission, but would need further support from the international community.  It saluted the changed already made to the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Burundi (BINUB) in the electoral context.  A positive outcome in the elections would allow Burundi to further redefine, in cooperation with the Secretary-General, the United Nations Mission there.  His Government also hoped that electoral success would shore up prospects for economic development.

To improve aid effectiveness, Burundi had set up a partnership framework to foster consultation and dialogue among the Government and donors, and a truly active dialogue was now visible from planning to delivery stages, he said.  The Government understood an environment of good governance was required, and had enacted a new Investment Code, as well as a series of reforms in its public finance sector.  Burundi also intended to meet the planetary challenge of achieving the Millennium Development Goals.  Towards that goal, the number of women giving birth in hospitals had risen substantially.  Malaria was being treated gratis and bednets had been supplied to the entire population.  In pursuit of education for all, 700 schools and health centres had been built in 2008.  Unfortunately, financial means were limiting the ability to supply safe drinking water and pay the staff, and Burundi appealed to its aid partners for more support.

Turning to the financial crisis, he said Burundi had not escaped.  Despite enacting economic policy measures to counteract the crisis, developing countries required additional assistance.  He invited the developed countries, particularly the Group of Eight (G-8), to honour the promises made at the Gleneagles Summit in 2005.  On climate change, courageous measures were also needed to limit carbon emissions and protect the environment.  Burundi endorsed the common African Union position in that regard.

ABHISIT VEJJAJIVA, Prime Minister of Thailand, enumerated the many challenges facing the international community and noted that they could only be resolved through international cooperation.  Thailand was prepared to share the lessons it had learned from its own financial crisis in 1997.  Peace and security, development, and human rights were intertwined and must reinforce each other so that all three pillars would be sustainable.  Moderation was the key to sustainability.  Excessive greed had caused the economic crisis.  Economic development and modernization must be better balanced and should take into account the economic, social, political and environmental needs of the people for the country to be resilient and protected from both external and internal shocks.

He said that the philosophy of a “sufficiency economy”, initiated and pursued by the King of Thailand, was being emulated in many parts of the world.  A more prudent investment approach, entailing rational decision-making and careful risk management, had allowed most of Thailand’s financial institutions to escape the direct impact of the current crisis.  As development was about the quality of growth, and not just the quantity, Thailand had boosted Government spending and investments to jumpstart the economy and had also cast social safety nets, making education reform a priority and upgrading health and welfare services.  Investments were directed at providing greater economic opportunities for people at the grass-roots level.  Thailand’s growth was people-centred.

As Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Thailand had led regional efforts to address the financial crisis and was expediting the Chang Mai Initiative under the framework of ASEAN + 3, with the aim of building regional financial stability through a regional self-help substantive reserve pooling arrangement, which would soon come into effect, he said.  The region was also liberalizing trade and rejected all forms of protectionism.

Today’s financial woes also exacerbated poverty, hunger and energy shortages, felt most strongly in the developing world, he continued.  Although Thailand had already attained its Millennium Development Goals in hunger and poverty elimination, more remained to be done.  Thailand was ready to share its experiences in managing and overcoming the challenges facing developing countries.  As a major agricultural economy, with strong experience and capability in developing alternative energy, it was ready to contribute to the solution of the world food and energy crises.

On climate change, he said that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change provided the core for international negotiations and cooperation, guided by the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities.  Thailand would spare no efforts to ensure that the upcoming climate change talks in Bangkok next week would make tangible progress towards a successful Copenhagen Conference in December.  He further welcomed the commitments expressed by the major economies during the Secretary-General’s Summit on Climate Change, particularly with regard to setting clear goals and targets for their actions.  Thailand vigorously pursued environmentally friendly growth and had made significant investments in producing energy crops.

It was equally important to see that the people’s political needs were met through sowing the seeds of democracy and supporting human rights and freedoms.  Democracy entailed ensuring the rights of minorities in addition to majority rule.  At the regional level, human rights were at the forefront of ASEAN’s agenda.  The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights would begin its activity in October.  Promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment were important to Thailand.  ASEAN was also in the process of establishing a commission on the promotion and protection of the rights of women and children which would strengthen the ASEAN human rights framework overall.

Internationally, Thailand was committed to rendering humanitarian assistance to those in need, he said.  He noted that Thailand had become the hub for the massive international relief effort for Myanmar following Cyclone Nargis.  Sustainable economic, political and social developments would ultimately ensure long-lasting peace and security.  For that reason, ASEAN was moving towards becoming both a political-security community and an economic and sociocultural one by 2015.  Its regional efforts would contribute to peace and security regionally and internationally.

Thailand itself played a significant role in peacekeeping operations worldwide, having provided 20,000 military troops, police officers and civilian staff to peacekeeping missions around the world.  It was also a member of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission and, as such, believed in building the right socio-economic and political conditions for sustainable peace in countries emerging from conflict and internal strife.  For that reason, Thailand had put itself forward as a candidate for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council from 2017-2018.  As a medium-sized developing country, it could represent the interests and concerns of developing countries worldwide.

JAN PETER BALKENENDE, Prime Minister and Minister for General Affairs of the Netherlands, opened by focusing on the “harsh reality of a financial and economic system on the brink”, saying that courage and resolve were needed more than ever, especially because the crisis had been so severe and so rapid.

He stressed that it was necessary to place shared interests above narrow self-interest, to adapt existing global governance structures to the new reality, and to make decisive choices that considered all interests, especially the world’s weakest and poorest people.  Vital to that process was a strong, decisive and efficient United Nations, one that would deliver stability, solidarity and sustainability.  The last few days at the General Assembly and the Group of 20 (G‑20) meeting in Pittsburgh had shown that there was a clear realization that the world had changed.  “Our interdependency gives us a shared responsibility.  We can now see that the problems we face are too big for any single nation,” he added.

He continued by addressing a few underlying themes:  stability; solidarity; and sustainability.  With regard to stability, he said that the current crisis was “clear proof that in a globalized world, instability anywhere is a threat to stability everywhere”.  The international policy response had shown that that was widely understood in the financial and economic context.  “We cannot allow the greed of a few to endanger the jobs of many,” he noted, pointing to the Pittsburgh agreement on compensation, which should end “a bonus culture that has grown out of control”.

The real danger, he said, was that those who had no part in causing the crisis would suffer most deeply.  In rich countries, that meant a loss of jobs and assets; in developing countries, it meant rising child mortality and rising hunger.  “In poor countries it is a matter of life and death,” he said, urging countries to renew their old promise to set aside 0.7 per cent of national income every year for development aid.  However, development budgets were not enough; the private sector should reform, and there was a greater need for corporate social responsibility.  Reform also needed to expand to global governance issues that could effectively address climate change, the food and energy crisis, and the pressing issues of peace, security, poverty and human rights.

On the issue of human rights, specifically, he mentioned a concern for the worsening human rights situation and the violent crackdown on popular protests in Iran.  He was concerned about the Iranian nuclear issue, which represented a major challenge to international security, regional stability and non-proliferation.  He called for a strong reaction by the international community and for total transparency by Iran, stressing that it was imperative for Iran to regain the international community’s trust.

Concerning climate change, he declared the importance of reaching an ambitious, fair, concrete and comprehensive agreement, one that ensured every country contributed according to its means.  Those countries that needed help in designing and implementing sound adaptation policies must receive it, which is why the Netherlands had set aside half a billion euros to promote the use of renewable energy in developing countries.  In Copenhagen, the Netherlands would call for worldwide CO2 emissions to be half what they were in 1990, by 2050.

He concluded by saying the world was smaller and more complex than ever, and that solutions to the issues he had outlined began with “recognizing our mutual dependence and responsibility”.  That would require courage.  Echoing the words of Nobel Laureate and Senator for Life Rita Levi-Montalcini, he said:  “Don’t fear difficult moments.  The best comes from them.”

IGOR CHUDINOV, Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, said his country supported broader representation in the Security Council and had nominated itself as a candidate for a non-permanent seat for 2012-2013.  Located in the heart of Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan was actively maintaining peace, security and environmental stability in the region and had been elected to the Human Rights Council in 2009.

He said that the outlook for the complicated situation in Central Asia hinged on developments in Afghanistan, which required new approaches to the humanitarian, political and socio-economic sectors.  In March, Kyrgyzstan’s President Kurmanbek Bakiev had unveiled the “Bishkek initiative”, which would create a centre for hosting international conferences on security and stability in Afghanistan and Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s capital.  The initiative could become a forum of practical cooperation in the area of security, as the region fought terrorism, extremism, illegal drug trafficking and transboundary organized crime.

As a landlocked, mountainous developing nation, Kyrgyzstan believed that the world community, under United Nations leadership, should use the foreign debt swap for sustainable development, he continued.  For example, it could swap its debt in turn for aid for Afghanistan’s socio-economic development, a swap of debt for sustainable development of poor mountainous countries and rehabilitation of uranium tailing ponds.  He urged Afghanistan’s neighbours with specific scientific, industrial and agricultural expertise to help in Afghanistan’s recovery.

He noted that the Assembly had adopted several resolutions concerning mountainous countries, which contained an analysis of their socio-economic situation, as well as recommendations for assistance to help those nations develop in a sustainable manner.  As an initiator of the resolution “Sustainable mountain development”, Kyrgyzstan would appreciate support for it at the current session.

Regarding the environment, he said the numerous uranium tailing dumps, loaded with large volumes of toxic waste from uranium production and processes, were of great concern in the region.  Those dumps were dangerous to health and the cleanliness of transboundary river basins and land.  Kyrgyzstan constantly worked with other countries in the region to process international legal documents, which could curtail radiation pollution in the region.  The Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia, for example, entered into force on 21 March.  He asked the nuclear Powers to support that initiative of the Central Asian countries and sign the protocol on negative security assurances.  He noted that the high-level International Forum “Uranium Tailings in Central Asia:  Local Problems, Regional Consequences, Global Solution”, held in Geneva in June, had been an example of regional cooperation.  He praised the wide range of assistance provided by different United Nations entities and noted the success of the United Nations Regional Centre on Preventive Diplomacy in Ashgabat, created in December 2007.

APISAI IELEMIA, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Labour of Tuvalu, said the global financial and economic crisis loomed over the opening of the Assembly’s sixty-fourth session.  Small island economies like his country’s relied on imports from overseas and had been severely impacted by the crisis.  Indeed, the price of basic food items had risen dramatically.  The people of Tuvalu were suffering from actions not of their making.  This global crisis required the cooperation of all countries.

He said that globalization had left other marks on Tuvalu, particularly in the context of swine flue.  His Government was thankful for the World Health Organization’s “Call to Action”, established to help poorer countries respond to the pandemic.  Such outbreaks highlighted the need for trade reforms in access to medicine.  Indeed, access to affordable medicine was not a right for rich nations only.

Noting that 12 Tuvaluan seafarers had been held captive aboard a German-registered ship off Somalia’s coast for four months, he stressed that the piracy scourge must end.  Tuvalu strongly condemned that inhumane organized crime and urged the United Nations and the international community to bring those pirates to justice through the application of the Principle of Universal Jurisdiction.  He further called on the United Nations to establish a special task force to address piracy.

As the leader of one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change, he had great faith in the upcoming conference in Copenhagen.  There, several milestones must be achieved.  First, the international community must commit to a rapid course of action to reduce greenhouse gases to levels that would ensure that global temperatures did not rise above 1.5° Celsius.  Second, the Kyoto Protocol must not be abandoned as the world worked towards a new agreement.  Rather, it should remain a cornerstone of all action.  Third, serious commitments were needed from key greenhouse-gas-emitting countries.  The United States must take a leadership role and drastically reduce its emissions.  Developing countries with rising economies must also reduce their emissions.  Fourth, strong commitments for financial and other resources to support vulnerable countries were needed.  Finally, it was necessary to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD) in a coherent way.  Carbon markets would not deliver sufficient climate change outcomes, and new funds should be developed.

He went on to say that the various bodies and special events and summits of the United Nations did not sufficiently address the particular vulnerability of certain countries when considering the question of graduation from least developed country status.  Like other least developed countries and small island developing States, Tuvalu’s economic and environmental vulnerability could not be totally ignored, particularly in light of the current economic crisis.  Towards that end, Tuvalu welcomed the decision not to graduate it from the list for the next three years.  But it continued to appeal to the Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and its development partners to reconsider and review the criteria for graduation.  No least developed country that was recognized as highly vulnerable should be forced to lose its status.

He welcomed the progress made on the intergovernmental negotiations towards reforming the Security Council.  Small island developing States should be allocated a seat.  While Tuvalu welcomed the establishment of a long-overdue United Nations joint presence office in Tuvalu in May, it hoped that office would not create another layer of bureaucracy among the Organization’s implementing agencies, but would be more responsive to Tuvaluan needs.  In that context, it was crucial that more concrete development projects be established.  While the long-overdue courtesy of Assembly participation had been granted to Taiwan this year, that country also deserved to participate more fully as a member of the World Health Organization and other specialized United Nations agencies, he added.

PATRICK MANNING, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, said that, while the world was beginning to emerge from the global recession, unemployment continued to grow, credit remained contracted and consumer confidence remained very low.  Further recessionary trends were also possible.  Every country must be wary of the adventurous attitude of leading financial institutions, which had led all to the edge of the economic precipice.  “In the globalized economy, we are all affected by policies or actions that direct the international financial system.”  That was particularly true of the smaller countries and the developing world, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, where the prospects had grown for increased poverty, unemployment and backsliding in the development process.

He said that the world’s trust in totally unregulated markets had been misplaced.  It was time to reform the international economic system to take in new realities, including new and emerging centres of economic power and the now indispensable need to deliberately generate growth in the developing world.  He was heartened by new developments and decisions among the G-20 countries.  There must be no reversal of that approach, which recognized that development everywhere translated into prosperity for all.  Reform of international financial institutions must ensure greater sensitivity to the needs of countries at differing levels of development, as new voices representing more of humanity were made part of the decision-making process and resource flows for trade and investment were realized.

Turning to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), he said that most of its States were experiencing economic contraction and rising unemployment levels.  It was regrettable that some CARICOM middle-income countries might not be eligible for funding under some World Bank facilities for international development assistance.  As highlighted at the 2008 Conference in Namibia, enhanced levels of international development assistance was necessary for those countries, but the current categorization did not accurately reflect their needs.  He asked the General Assembly to take steps to advance the cause of middle-income countries in the matter.

He also spoke of the need for greater attention to promote peace and security in Haiti, and the need for all Western Hemisphere nations to contribute to the proposed Hemispheric Fund for Haiti, proposed by Trinidad and Tobago.  He would be bringing the matter before the General Assembly for its support.

On security, he emphasized the problem of organized transnational crime, including terrorism, and illegal trafficking in drugs, arms and persons.  Drug trafficking particularly afflicted the Caribbean as a transhipment route to North America and Europe.  That had a corrosive effect on the region’s small societies.  CARICOM was pooling resources to combat the problem, but it needed greater resources.  He encouraged Member States to negotiate a legally binding arms trade treaty.  The security situation in the region had been aggravated by the deteriorating economic situation, weakened by the loss of preferential markets for bananas and sugar and the failure of expected returns from both the tourism industry and the financial services sector, he added.

Concerning climate change, he rejected the per capita basis for determining levels of carbon emission, as unfair to small, energy-producing, developing countries, such as Trinidad and Tobago.  Absolute emissions provided a more just method.  Trinidad and Tobago had already embarked on emission reductions by pursuing renewable sources.  Trinidad and Tobago would be hosting the last major summit before the Copenhagen summit in December, where it would attempt to forge a consensus between both high greenhouse gas emitters and some of the countries most threatened by climate change.

At the same time, greater attention must be paid to non-communicable diseases, as forecasts indicated that they would account for about 73 per cent of global deaths and 60 per cent of the global burden of disease.  He called for indicators on those diseases to be integrated into the core monitoring of Millennium Development Goals progress and evaluation, and proposed a special session of the General Assembly on the issue.  He regretted the lack of progress towards implementing the food security Goal by 2015, adding that a greater sense of urgency was needed.  All countries must honour the commitments made at the 2008 World Summit on Food Security.  Hopefully, the next such summit would bolster achievement of the revised target of 2025, set by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

On United Nations reform, he said that democracy and representation were key to achieving meaningful and effective multilateralism and, towards that goal, he expressed support for Security Council reform.  The composition of that body must better reflect the global geopolitical realities in play since the end of the Second World War.

TUILAEPA SAILELE MALIELEGAOI, Prime Minister of Samoa, said recent crises highlighted the world’s interconnectedness and interdependency.  Their effect, although caused by a few, had not differentiated between the rich and the poor, the developed and developing world.  Yet the crises seemed imminently solvable and short-term in the shadow of the climate change challenge.  The core message of the past week’s climate change summit was clear:  it was a real phenomenon that was already occurring, and its stark reality could no longer be ignored.

He stressed that climate change was not a concern for small island developing States alone.  Indeed, the countries most responsible ‑‑ the main carbon emitters ‑‑ could not be absolved of the burden of leadership.  In that light, a Copenhagen climate pact was a must.  It required a new brand of cooperation and a broad outlook.  Indeed, climate change was everyone’s job.  It posed a test for multilateral solidarity.  With the effects worsening daily, the blame game was no longer an option.  The divergent, yet inextricably linked interests of Member States demanded that they “seal the deal” in Copenhagen.

Samoa had found the cost of adaptation and mitigation at the national level to be prohibitive, specifically, the cost of relocating people living along the coastline, he said.  But that had not deterred his Government.  By partnering with the international community, it was bolstering its resilience to the impacts of climate change.  He highlighted Samoa’s plantation access roads programme.

Turning to the financial crisis, he said the economies of small and vulnerable island economies had not been spared.  Samoa’s small economy had contracted, narrowing the Government’s revenue base and making impossible the kind of stimulus package that would meaningfully mitigate the recession’s impacts.  Thus, effective, short-term assistance in the form of direct budgetary support was needed now.  The decision to graduate Samoa from the least developing countries list in December 2010 had not taken into account the ravages of the financial crisis.  But given its impact, an extension of the transitional period was both necessary and justified.

He said that with the Millennium Development Goals set to be reviewed next year, Samoa regarded its scorecard with “guarded optimism”.  Yet, its needs were not matched by its resources, and the lack of aid response from donor partners was justifiably alarming.  If support for the relatively modest needs to achieve the Goals was not granted, the prospects for an effective global response to climate change all but vanished.  Further, while the Pacific region remained relatively calm and stable, that tranquillity masked the acute economic vulnerability of small island developing States there.  Given the nexus between economic stability and peace, it was expected that the world would be eager to assist development efforts in the region.  But, that belief had not been borne out.

Concluding, he expressed hope that the United States’ effort to relaunch the stalled Middle East peace talks would forge a permanent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  The global menace of international terrorism should also be addressed through concerted multilateral action.  Samoa hoped the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty would be ratified by the United States and would soon enter into force.  The Security Council, as part of its reform, should be expanded, and countries like Japan should assume permanent member status.

SHEIKH HASINA, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, recounted the country’s history of assassination and dictatorship and hailed the internationally recognized elections that brought her home from exile and brought democracy back to Bangladesh.  The resounding victory of her party, the Awami League, reflected the people’s preference for democratic ideals and secularism and a denial of all forms of extremism, she said, noting that the elections had witnessed record participation of young voters and women.

She said her country, despite all odds, was making strides in socio-economic development.  As a Government priority, education, particularly for girls, was receiving the single largest share of the annual budget.  The Government had pledged to ensure 100 per cent student enrolment at the primary level by 2010.  Bangladesh had successfully removed gender disparity in net enrolment of boys and girls in primary education, in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals, and was now planning to provide free tuition for girls up to degree level.  The Government was also providing food rations to poor primary school children in rural areas and aimed to achieve full literacy by 2014.

The Government also strove to make progress in the health sector, she said.  During the party’s last tenure (1996-2001), a national health policy that would ensure basic health care without discrimination, had been formulated.  A national strategy for maternal health had also been adopted, and there were also plans to reduce the infant mortality rate, to extend child immunizations and to reinstate an earlier programme to establish one community health-care centre for every 6,000 people.  She enumerated the many social safety nets already in place in Bangladesh, added to which was a current initiative to provide employment to at least one member of every family.  Over half of the budgetary resources were being allocated to reduce the poverty level from 45 per cent to 15 per cent by 2021.

Food security was of prime concern, she said.  During her Government’s earlier tenure, agricultural programmes had made Bangladesh self-sufficient in food, although that achievement had subsequently been lost.  Current Government food policy aimed to ensure sustained food security for all.  Bangladesh would also be seeking a global agreement for agricultural development and the attainment of food self-sufficiency in developing countries at the upcoming World Summit on Food Security in Rome.  Substantial contributions from developed countries, agreement on sustainable agricultural policies, technology transfer, equitable and fair trade rules for food and agricultural products with preferential treatment for least developed countries, and the removal of agricultural subsidies in the developed world would also be sought.

Bangladesh was one of the worst victims of climate change, although its contribution to the problem was negligible, she said.  Myriad natural disasters were interrupting agriculture and challenging water resources, health, energy, and urban planning, among other areas.  Countless lives had been lost and families uprooted by the thousands year-round, creating millions of climate change refugees.  According to scientific estimates, one in every seven people in Bangladesh would be a victim of climate change by 2050.  The dredging of all major rivers had been placed at the top of the adaptation agenda.  Some 14,000 cyclone shelters had already been built and more were on the way.  Although a Climate Change Trust Fund had been established domestically, international resources were needed to implement those projects.

Worldwide, the communities affected by climate change “would not only lose their homes, they would also stand to lose their identity, nationality, and their very existence and, in some cases, their countries”, she said.  For that reason it was critical that the outcome of the Copenhagen Conference in December provide assured, adequate and easily accessible funding for adaptation, as well as affordable, eco-friendly technology transfer to developing countries and commitments to deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.  She welcomed Gordon Brown’s proposed fund to support adaptation and mitigation programmes in affected countries, as a potential start to the systematic flow of funds towards ameliorating adversely changing conditions around the globe.

She said that the economic recession came from years of negligence to economic equity and justice, including an unfair international financial structure that had not kept up with changing needs.  It was imperative to immediately restructure the global financial system.  The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) must accommodate a stronger presence of developing countries, especially least developed countries.  Liberal trade concessions by developed countries could rescue those countries.  Early conclusion of the Doha Development Round also would be an important collective stimulus package for developing economies.  She called on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries to fulfil their official development assistance (ODA) commitment to developing countries.  Recovery measures should not adversely affect employment opportunities of immigrant workers from developing countries.

Noting that Bangladesh ranked second in providing personnel to peacekeeping operations and that the country had lost 84 peacekeepers, she said that it was not proportionately represented in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and did not have a say in planning and strategies for peacekeeping missions.  That situation could be rectified by proportional representation.  She further noted that Bangladesh had been a founding member of the Peacebuilding Commission and had been contributing to peacebuilding activities ever since.  She declared her opposition to terrorism, and “categorically rejected claims to those who cloak themselves in the rhetoric of Islam, or any faith to justify violence”.

DENZIL L. DOUGLAS, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saint Kitts and Nevis, urged the Assembly to view the world from the perspective of a small middle-income heavily-indebted country.  The very real vulnerabilities of small States with a high per capita gross domestic product (GDP) should be more clearly reflected in multilateral policies, as the global economic system was restructured.  He sought support for new debt forgiveness, as the international financial institutions were reformed.  Small vulnerable economies usually paid a disproportionately high price when global crises occurred, and the voices of those countries should play a part in the creation of a new financial architecture.

He said that the Caribbean countries had repeatedly called on the international community to recognize the special circumstance of the small island developing States, as a practical way to address their complex issues.  The interconnectedness of the planet was most obvious in the issue of climate change.  While Saint Kitts and Nevis had tiny carbon footprints, the negative impact of climate change and global warming did not discriminate.  The geography of the small islands was changing as sea levels rose and marine life diminished. Coastlines and reefs were adversely impacted and the long-term implications for food production were dire.  He urged the major global emitters to lead in ensuring that the small island countries had the resources to meet their adaptation, mitigation, technology transfer and capacity-building goals.  He urged the emitters to compensatethose countries for the risk and losses stemming from climate change.  He also urged the United Nations to strengthen and finance the “SIDS Unit”.  He welcomed the session’s work towards the five-year review of the Mauritius Strategy for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.

Concerning the emerging trend of crime and violence among youth, he said studies showed that victims and perpetrators of crime were increasingly young men.  Youth alienation, rage and brutality were troubling global phenomena that demanded global analysis and action.  With its unique capabilities, the United Nations should marshal all available resources to identify the factors behind that destabilizing trend and decide how to reverse it.  The human, social and financial costs of violence were unacceptably high, and he called upon Member States to join Saint Kitts and Nevis in tabling a resolution to support a multisectoral response to violence and place the issue on the agenda of the Assembly’s sixty-fifth session.  While commending the Organization’s assistance to Member States in crime-fighting efforts, he urged it to reopen the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the Caribbean.

PAKALITHA B. MOSISILI, Prime Minister of Lesotho, opened by saying that the United Nations was meeting at a time of serious challenges that included the financial crisis, climate change, and threats to international security and peace.  A multilateral and effective response was needed to deal with those issues.

Turning to the economic crisis, he said that the least developed and developing countries were hardest-hit and that it seemed “obvious that Governments can no longer abdicate to the financial institutions their responsibility of oversight and regulation of the global financial systems”.  He pointed to the impact of the crisis on his country, as well as on all poorer countries, which faced a serious reduction in exports and a choking of capital flows.  Lesotho’s textile exports had dropped dramatically, resulting in unprecedented loss of livelihoods and an erosion of the gains made towards poverty eradication.  The impact was “felt in all aspects of life; be it the increase of unemployment, illiteracy or in the incidence of HIV and AIDS-related deaths due to the unavailability of drugs”.

He said he was heartened, however, by the efforts of the G-20, which had pledged a stimulus package of $1.1 trillion, much of which was slated to go to developing countries.  But he was concerned that the initiative seemed to have stalled, and it was unclear how the funds would be distributed.  He urged that the disbursement be free of quotas and conditionalities, and that it would be mindful of the needs of individual countries.

Regarding climate change, he said that was something “we are beyond the capacity of any individual country to deal with alone”.  The response to its impacts must be a top priority for all, and it must never be forgotten that, at the forefront of those most affected, were the poor and innocent.

Turning to security issues, particularly the situation in Rwanda, he said that, while there had been healing, the “ Rwanda genocide is still fresh in our minds”.  He reminded Governments of their obligation to protect their people from mass atrocities, including genocide, ethnic cleansing and war crimes, reaffirming support of the principle of the responsibility to protect.  The resolve must be to never fail any population again.  The responsibility to protect notion was closely linked to reform of the United Nations, and especially to that of the Security Council, which lacked legitimacy and did not truly reflect the current United Nations Membership.  Therefore, its composition was “irrelevant and undemocratic”.

He meanwhile urged the international community to strive for a world free of nuclear weapons, expressing disappointment that some countries were still testing nuclear weapons.  Their “continuing possession and development of nuclear weapons cast doubts on whether this objective can indeed be realized”.  At the same time, however, he reiterated the right of every country to develop and use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, which could benefit all humanity.

He touched on other several issues, and called for universal support of the International Criminal Court.  There was also a need to tackle the problem of piracy off the Somali coast, which negatively affected maritime security overall.

He next turned to the plight of the peoples of Palestine, the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic and Cuba.  He called on Israel to cease settlement activities and for both sides in that conflict to halt the use of force; for the decolonization and right of self-determination of the Saharawi people; and an end to the United States embargo on Cuba.

MADHAV KUMAR NEPAL, Prime Minister of Nepal, said that, as recognized in the Millennium Declaration, the United Nations was “the indispensable common house of the entire human family”.  As such, a more efficient and stronger Organization was obviously of common interest.  Sovereign equality, territorial integrity, political independence, non-interference and peaceful settlement of international disputes were the bedrock of inter-State relations.  As globalization increased the world’s interconnectedness, multilateralism offered the best means and opportunity to address the global problems of current times.

Emphasizing that Nepal was in the midst of a political transition, he said its Constituent Assembly of 601 members, who were elected through a mixed-proportional system, had been writing a new, democratic, republican constitution.  One of the most inclusive and representative bodies in Nepal’s history, it was determined to build consensus among political parties and take the process to the positive conclusion envisaged in the Comprehensive Peace Accord.  It was hoped that reconfiguring the State into federal units would be a significant step towards deepening the roots of democracy.

He said his Government had four major tasks:  concluding the peace process; writing a new constitution through the Constituent Assembly; gearing up economic development; and managing the people’s rising expectations.  It was determined to reach the destination of a peaceful, prosperous and stable Nepal, keeping in mind that freedom rang hollow where there was no development, and development lost its soul if it was not accompanied by freedom.  Mindful that failure to provide peace dividends could cause unintended consequences, he requested special support from Nepal’s development partners in addressing its post-conflict development challenges.

Since the beginning of its peace process in 2006, Nepal’s human rights situation had improved significantly, he said, adding that the Government was determined to establish a truth and reconciliation commission, as well as a disappearance commission, as part of ensuring transitional justice.  It also continued to support the United Nations through its Mission in Nepal.  Convinced of the importance of peacebuilding in post-conflict countries, Nepal would contribute to the work of the Peacebuilding Commission as a new member of its Organizational Committee.

He stressed that the least developed and landlocked countries were the most vulnerable to the multiple crises facing an increasingly interconnected world.  Their special needs called for more specific and enhanced levels of international support.  Towards that goal, the outcome of the United Nations conference on the financial and economic crisis should be implemented along with the outcome of the financing for development conference, held last year in Doha.  As recognized at the G-20 summit held in London earlier this year, the least developed countries needed their own international financial rescue, especially to ensure that they did not backtrack on prior progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.  In preparation for the fourth conference of least developed countries, serious consideration should be given to the implementation status of the Brussels Programme of Action, with a view to tackling all existing obstacles.  Full implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action for the Landlocked Developing countries was also needed.

He called the continued lack of progress in the global disarmament agenda “worrying” and hoped that next year’s review of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons would foster the necessary momentum towards nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.  Nepal regarded the growing menace of small arms proliferation with equal seriousness.  Regional disarmament discourse could help to lay the groundwork for general and complete disarmament.  In that context, he urged financial support for the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament, established in Kathmandu last year.

FELETI VAKA’UTA SEVELE, Prime Minister of Tonga, thanked United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his convening the Climate Change Summit, and noted the impact it had had on Tonga and other vulnerable small island developing States.  Indeed, those countries needed to “reach beyond our narrow national interests and embrace our collective responsibility to each other as nation States and to those States most vulnerable and least able to address the vagaries of climate change”.  That issue had taken its rightful place at the forefront of the debate this week, but those words must be matched by action.  “Our understanding of the truth of climate change must be moved by the honest action to mitigate and change the wasteful energy habits of a lifetime into the productive energy habits of the future.”

Turning to other issues, he said he remained committed to making progress on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, which remained a core component of Tonga’s national development planning.  “Much of that progress has been reliant on our own domestic efforts, but has been complemented by our own development partners,” he said, also expressing support for the Secretary-General’s convening of a special summit on the Goals in 2010.

He touched on some of Tonga’s other concerns, including preservation of the sea, saying that, as an island nation, the living and the potential of non-living marine resources of the country’s maritime zones remained critical to its future.  Thus, the country remained in compliance with its obligations under the Law of the Sea, and had lodged a partial submission for consideration by the Commission on the Outer Limits of the Continental Shelf.  Energy was another important issue to Tonga, especially since 100 per cent of its power generation was fuelled by imported fossil fuels.  Thus, the country has been forced to investigate feasible renewable energy sources.  “We have set a target to achieve 50 per cent of our electricity generation utilizing renewable energy sources by 2012,” he said.

Continuing, he said his country had reviewed donor funding to see how to achieve this goal; Tonga’s development partners had agreed to collaborate to assess the current infrastructure.  At the conclusion of the regional Pacific Energy Ministers Meeting, the Tonga Renewable Energy Road Map had been borne.  The blueprint would assess the most suitable renewable energy source utilizing the rapid advances in technology, assess the infrastructure in which the electricity could be generated and distributed, and provide models of systems that could be implemented throughout remote islands.

He noted that Tonga’s parliament had recently considered ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, but had voted against ratification because “to do so would cut across our cultural and social heritage that made up our unique Tongan way of life”.  He added that “we did not want to ratify CEDAW [women’s Convention] as a matter of international convenience.  We would rather be judged on our actions of empowerment of women”.

THONGLOUN SISOULITH, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, said United Nations reform was crucial to ensure the Organization’s effective implementation of its mandate.  Reform should be comprehensive, transparent and balanced, and consistent with the United Nations Charter.  The revitalization of the Assembly, reform of the Council and strengthening of the Economic and Social Council and specialized agencies should help make the Organization truly representative of all Member States.  His country welcomed the launch of intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform.

Turning to disarmament, he said the impasse in the multilateral disarmament machinery undermined global peace and security.  States should adhere to their nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation obligations.  The upcoming 2010 Review Conference would be an opportunity for the States parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation T

In the Eastern Cape, large-scale ecosystem interventions—most notably the multi-billion rand Spekboom Restoration Project driven by Imperative Global and backed by global financing—are actively transforming degraded land adjacent to rural and marginalized communities.

These environmental interventions are designed to restore the Albany Thicket while functioning as a massive socio-economic catalyst for the Global South. Key elements of the initiative in your vicinity (the Kariega/Eastern Cape region) include:

Ecosystem Engineering: The project relies on Portulacaria afra (Spekboom), a resilient native plant that captures large amounts of carbon while helping to regenerate soil properties and surrounding biodiversity.

Job Creation: With the Eastern Cape experiencing some of the highest unemployment rates in South Africa (~40%), the project directly subcontracts planting, nursery, and harvesting to local SMMEs, channeling economic benefits directly into rural townships.

Community Benefits: The initiative is designed to provide sustainable revenue streams for local farmers and landowners while providing on-the-job training in environmental restoration and land stewardship.

For those looking to understand community resilience and the interplay between local culture and the environment, eco-cultural experiences such as the Motherwell Township Guided Tour are available, providing deep insight into the daily lives and resilience of residents in the broader Nelson Mandela Bay region.

Rural NBS Adjacent Interventions

Decarbonizing the lives of Indigenous Marginalized Communities

SDG heavy household devices, including: clean cookstoves, water filters, LED lighting, other high-quality household devices, typically as an adjacency to our NBS activities  

Rural Nature-based Solutions (NbS) alongside adjacent interventions represent climate and development programs that integrate environmental restoration with direct support for marginalized communities. By addressing both ecosystem health and basic household needs, these imperative strategies reduce greenhouse gas emissions and poverty simultaneously.   

These programs center around two main pillars:  

1. Rural Nature-Based Solutions

These are strategic actions that work with natural ecosystems to protect, restore, and manage landscapes. In rural environments, they typically include: 

Afforestation & Reforestation: Restoring native forests while involving local Indigenous Peoples and vulnerable communities in project design and land management. 

Agroforestry: Integrating trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming to make agriculture resilient to climate change, improve soil health, and boost food security. 

Wetland & Mangrove Restoration: Revitalizing coastal and wetland areas, which often includes sustainable, community-led fishing (silvofishery).   

2. Adjacent Interventions

Because environmental restoration takes time to yield economic dividends, adjacent interventions act as immediate support for the community. These strategies typically distribute Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-heavy household devices and technologies. Examples include: 

Clean Cookstoves: Providing energy-efficient stoves to rural households to lower indoor air pollution, improve community health, and reduce reliance on cutting down local forests.

Water Filters: Supplying household-level filtration systems to guarantee access to safe drinking water.

Renewable Lighting: Introducing solar and LED lighting solutions to replace kerosene and reduce household carbon footprints.   

Why This is an Imperative  

By combining ecological restoration (which captures carbon) with adjacent household tools (which reduce household energy demand and emissions), these interventions directly decarbonize daily life.  For marginalized or impoverished rural communities, this dual approach is an imperative that limits environmental disaster risks, creates green jobs, and diversifies sustainable income streams. Organizations like Imperative Global focus heavily on these integrated approaches, while global programs like the Africa Nature-Based Solutions Program center climate justice alongside environmental restoration.   

8 sites   Carbon Offset Projects -

Imperative Global Imperative focuses on ecosystem restoration and management projects that have: The highest combined positive climate and sustainab... www.imperativeinc.com     Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in African urban cities | CLARE ... 09 Jun 2026 — Nature-based solutions are more than just planting trees. They are strategic actions, ranging from protection and restoration to s... 5:47

CLARE programme·African Climate & Development Initiative UCT     Four ways nature-based solutions benefit rural people ... - IFAD 10 Nov 2021 — Small-scale farmers cultivate 60–80 per cent of the food produced in developing countries. The ability of the poorest rural dwelle... IFAD  

Carbon Offset Projects - Imperative Global
  imperativeinc.com https://www.imperativeinc.com › carbon-development-...         rural NBS adjacent interventions Decarbonizing the lives of marginalized communities SDG heavy household devices, including: clean cookstoves, water filters, ...   Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in African urban cities
 

CLARE - CLimate Adaptation & REsilience https://clareprogramme.org › Updates › Blog         09 Jun 2026 — It is imperative that nature-based solutions improve local biodiversity, including providing a habitat for naturally occurring plants and ...Read more Missing: rural ‎adjacent ‎Decarbonizing ‎marginalized   Nature-based solutions: typologies, ecological processes ...
 

ScienceDirect.com https://www.sciencedirect.com › science › article › pii         by JE Lozano · 2025 · Cited by 6 — Nature-based Solutions (NbS) can generate multiple benefits to society through the protection, restoration and renaturing of ecosystems across landscapes.Read more   NbS Guidelines
 

Nature-based Solutions Initiative https://www.naturebasedsolutionsinitiative.org › nbs-guid...         NbS are explicitly designed to provide a range of benefits to local people, including supporting livelihoods, improving health, and reducing vulnerability to ...Read more   Africa Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) Program
 

Nature For Justice https://nature4justice.earth › programs › africa-nature-b...         Our team identifies, co-creates, and supports high-integrity nature-based solutions that protect rural livelihoods and generate sustainable income.Read more   Four ways nature-based solutions benefit rural people and ...
 

IFAD https://www.ifad.org › explainers › four-ways-nature-b...         10 Nov 2021 — NbS help make food production resilient to climate change, enabling farmers to adapt effectively and to manage and improve the quality of the ...Read more Missing: adjacent ‎interventions ‎Decarbonizing   Promoting Nature-based Solutions and Sustainable ...
 

UNECE https://unece.org › files › NbS 2515391E_WEB     PDF   07 Nov 2025 — The training emphasized the accessibility of NbS to rural communities, highlighting their potential to restore degraded lands, enhance ... 186 pages   Nature-based Solution to improve resilience
 

People in Need https://www.peopleinneed.net › ...         The intervention is leveraging NbS to unlock the potential of conservation and ecosystems protection as livelihoods, working on floodplains, rangelands and ...Read more   The Critical Role of Nature-based Solutions for Enhancing ...
 

UN-Habitat https://unhabitat.org › default › files › 2023/10     PDF   This entails understanding the social, economic, and environmental dynamics to design NBS interventions that align with the needs of these communities. • ...Read more 68 pages             People also search for Imperative group inc   Jobs at imperative global group inc   Imperative spekboom  

On this day, we visited the Spekboom Project alongside partners from Imperative, Amazon and NatCarbon Africa.

#SpekboomRestorationProject #GrowingTheEasternCape #GreenEconomy

Mr. Wilton Le Grange, an owner of a local SMME working at the Spekboom Restoration Project shares his experience of the project thus far.

The Spekboom restoration projects in the Eastern Cape, such as those led by Imperative and Natcarbon Africa, do not specifically recruit based on traditional or tribal affiliation. Instead, they participate by hiring, training, and employing scores of local, rural community members facing high unemployment in the region.

These green-economy jobs provide sustainable livelihoods in an area experiencing between 60% and 80% unemployment.

Key details regarding the community participants include:

Locations: The projects are concentrated in impoverished districts, notably around Jansenville, Klipplaat, and the broader Sarah Baartman District and Dr. Beyers Naudé Local Municipality.

Workforce Scale: As of mid-2026, over 1,000 local community members are involved in propagating, planting, and managing the spekboom shrubs. This number is expected to scale up to 11,000 jobs by 2030.

Project Scope: Backed by companies like Amazon and the World Bank, the initiative aims to restore 50,000 hectares of degraded land in Phase 1, with a long-term goal of rehabilitating up to 100,000 hectares.

By transforming environmental conservation into rural employment, the projects are aimed at economically uplifting local residents who call the Eastern Cape home.

The Spekboom has amazing carbon-storing abilities, more than any other tree. Find out why you have to plant this amazing tree.

Spekboom (Portulacaria afra) is a native South African tree known as the "environmental miracle worker" — with the potential to reduce carbon emissions like

Following the successful rollout of Phase 1, Imperative South Africa Projects (Pty) Ltd (Imperative), together with NatCarbon Africa (Pty) Ltd (NatCarbon) as strategic services provider, have formed an Integrated Project Team (IPT) to plan Phase 2 of the Spekboom Restoration Project.

This next phase represents a significant scale-up.

An expert team of Carbon project developers, designing, developing, operating & optimizing the best carbon offset projects in the world.

As the global pushback against flying gains momentum because of air travel’s impact on the climate crisis, the South African travel industry has come up with an innovative offset mechanism — planting carbon-sucking spekboom to combat ‘flygskam’.

I love the Eastern Cape – I grew up there and have so many fond memories of its beautiful beaches, winding rivers and rolling uplands clothed in impenetrable thicket vegetation. The hills and rivers and beaches are still there, but sadly only patches of thicket remain, a great deal of it lost to changing land use, mostly farming. By PETER BORCHERT for UNTOLD AFRICA.