NON STATE STAKEHOLDERS

Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)

President

At the most fundamental level, the COVID-19 pandemic is the result of increasingly unsustainable interactions between human beings and natural systems. The rapid global spread of the virus also illustrates the risks of rapid globalisation. Thus, as we begin to consider our societies after the pandemic, it is clear that we need policy frameworks that help us live more sustainably with nature while reducing the negative impacts of globalisation. But what policy frameworks can help us achieve these goals? Let me offer an example from Japan and other parts of Asia and the Pacific known as the regional and local “circulating and ecological sphere” or CES.

CES aims to integrate the principles of a “society in harmony with nature”, a “resource circulating society”, and a “decarbonised society”. To advance these principles, CES calls for several transformative changes. One such change is the decentralisation and integration of the management of natural resources at appropriate scales. This will encourage more appropriate utilisation of natural resources; lower carbon emissions associated with energy and transport; and decrease vulnerabilities to supply chain disruptions. A second change is conserving often neglected ecosystem services between urban and rural areas. This will not only improve resource flows but also help restore natural buffer zones, as illustrated in Satoyama landscapes. A third change calls for revitalising communities by depending more on local resources for essential needs. This will help create jobs and sustainable livelihoods.

While CES calls for localisation of resource use, it also sees a growing role for harnessing the good of globalisation. In particular, international institutions such as
the UNDESA, UNFCCC, CBD, and the UNDRR can help countries learn how to adopt their own integrated approaches to resource management so that we can build societies that are decentralised yet connected to global communities through the exchange of people, information and technologies. At IGES, we also believe that international cooperation is essential to both “build back better” and “move forward together”.

UNFCCC

Executive Secretary

Ladies and gentlemen…

I congratulate Minister Koizumi and the Japanese Government on its plan to develop an online Platform on Sustainable and Resilient Recovery from COVID-19.

COVID19 has caused the greatest international crisis since the second World War and threatens to undermine global climate action.

At the same time, the anticipated recovery is a historic opportunity to transform economies in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement and to create a healthier, more sustainable world.

Will we choose to “go back to normal”? The normal where global temperature rise is on pace to more than double by the end of this century?

Or will we choose to—not build back better, but build forward? To enact policies that promote green growth, protect biodiversity, embrace renewable energy and more?

The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need to plan better and earlier for the impacts of disasters – we cannot afford to be caught off guard again.

We need to start building greater reliance to climate impacts well in advance of further disasters.

Governments are in the process of designing more ambitious national climate plans – Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs.

This Platform can be an extremely useful tool to provide valuable knowledge and insights as governments prepare their NDCs and then move into the implementation stage.

…and it can help both governments and civil society exchange valuable information on the best possible ways to collaborate in building greener and more resilient societies.

Finally, a crucial aspect of the platform is that it can help governments maintain crucial political momentum around the conversation on the specific policies they need to achieve their NDCs.

I thank you for your valuable contribution and for helping the international community work together in a spirit of inclusive multilateralism.

I look forward to productive discussions amongst Ministers at the official launch of the Platform on 3 September…

…and I am confident that both the Platform and the related Ministerial discussions can help build valuable momentum as we move towards COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow next year.