“We recognize the irreplaceable value of forests for nature, for people, for the economy, for common humanity, but also as a prime solution to address climate change,” H.E Ms Razan Al Mubarak, President of the IUCN and UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28 told Heads of State, including the Presidents for Gabon and France, Ali Bongo Ondimba and Emmanuel Macron, at the One Forest Summit this week.

This summit, held in Gabon from 1-2 March, brought Heads of States and governments, leaders of international organizations, financial institutions, the private sector, international NGOs, think tanks and research centres, Indigenous peoples and civil society together to discuss how to progress and renew ambition to preserve and sustainably manage forests, critical to tackling the most pressing interrelated global challenges.

Speaking of the potential of forests as Nature-based Solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss, Ms Al Mubarak, said there was “no Paris Agreement without protecting, without restoring, without sustaining and managing nature,” adding this cannot be done without Indigenous Peoples, Youth and Finance.

“This is the decade in which we must reverse biodiversity loss, slash emissions, address resilience, and advance equity, and we must do this all simultaneously. To do this, we need capital. Trillions of dollars need to be unlocked, but we must remember that it is not just the quantity of finance but the quality of finance,” she added.

Inclusion, Ms Al Mubarak said, was driving the planning and execution of COP28 across all initiatives. “At COP28 we are putting nature and inclusivity at the heart of our agenda. COP28 will be a COP of action, and it will be a COP where the global south will be front and centre,” she said.

During the summit, Ms Al Mubarak met with Frannie Leautier, CEO of SouthBridge Investments and chair of FSD Africa and James Mwangi, Co-Founder of Climate Action Platform for Africa (CAP-A). SouthBridge Investments are the first African investment house to sign the deforestation-free finance commitment.

Climate Champions Ocean Lead, Ignace Beguin Billecocq was also in attendance, convening a event on the Mangrove Breakthrough, a science-based, measurable, and achievable goal for non-state actors and governments to collectively restore and protect mangroves at the scale needed to secure the future of these vital coastal forests.

Watch the video below:

A commitment to Eliminate Agricultural Commodity-Driven Deforestation and Increase Investments in NbS