Statement of President Bio at COP26, Glasgow, Scotland.
November 1, 2021
Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. Let me, at the outset, thank 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 our time – climate change.
2. 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.
3. But we are 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,
other fallouts like poverty, gender disparities, and youth
unemployment are intensifying especially in the COVID-19 era.
4. We are doing the very best we can in the circumstances. We are fully
committed to all international agreements and actions to develop a
climate resilient future. We have established a stand-alone Ministry of
the Environment and recently reviewed and updated our 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.
5. Within our limited resources, we have underscored climate change
actions in national development planning and budgeting processes in
alignment with outcomes derived from the UNFCCC process.
6. We 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.
7. We are promoting alternative renewable energy in off-grid solar
networks and stepping up tree-planting to restore 960,000 hectares of
depleted forests.
8. We believe that establishing a green economy should focus on
restoring and protecting, investing in, consuming sustainably, and
being accountable and inclusive.
9. As Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently stated, it is indeed “right and
lucrative to be green” and we want to work collectively toward that
goal.
10. But 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.”
11. We need technical support to introduce or implement enabling
regulatory and structural reforms. My 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.
12. 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.
13. We stand ready to invest in green energy sources with smaller
environmental footprints. We have introduced some off-grid solar
electrification to some towns, but we 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.
14. We should also 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.
15. We 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.
16. We need technical and vocational training to support the growth
of jobs created as a consequence of these investments.
17. But more importantly we believe sustained investments in an
equitable education will prepare young people and women especially,
to respond to climate challenges, help consolidate the gains we will
make from the foregoing investments and build a more inclusive and
resilient future.
18. We need support from global climate financing streams. Africa
has access to less than 5% of global climate financing. We also need
the support of larger economies and the international financial
community to de-risk private capital and green investments.
19. At this conference and beyond, Sierra Leone is determined to
engage and explore all possibilities, ideas, and partnerships to achieve
our collective global goals.
20. It may not be easy being green but we, in Sierra Leone, are
determined to be green.
I thank you all for your kind attention.
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