Glasgow, United Kingdom – The President of of Liberia, H.E. Dr. George Manneh Weah, has reiterated the need for global action in tackling and addressing issues affecting the climate, an Executive Mansion dispatch has said.
Addressing fellow world leaders and delegates at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (UNCCC), dubbed the Conference of Parties (COP26), Dr. Weah said it takes collective action to meet the commitments of the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Framework on Climate Change.
“Together, we can make a difference as a shared community of global citizens with a common destiny. Together we can heal the world from the scourges of climate change”, the Liberian Leader called on his colleagues and other delegates at the conference.
Continuing, President Weah maintained: “Together, we can save this earth from the deadly consequences of global warming. Together, we can bring humankind into harmony with nature.”
Cognizant of COP26 being held at a time the world is reeling from the devastating and disruptive consequences of the deadly Coronavirus pandemic, the Liberian Chief Executive and Campaigner for conducive climate said Climate change presents an even bigger threat to the world and to our common humanity.
He admonished the global community to seek common action to save the planet, and bring equity and fairness in order to achieve the objectives under the Paris Accord.
“We are all aware that there is an inherent imbalance in the current architecture of climate financing. Countries like Liberia, who maintain and protect the largest remaining tracts of forest reserves, receive the lowest benefits for these ecosystem services”, President Weah pointed out.
He called on delegates at the conference to address the imbalance and stressed the need to shift the existing mismatch in climate investments, saying “we, who are the richest in terms of forest resources and biodiversity, are the poorest in terms of socio-economic development. Although we bear the brunt of the impact of climate change, we benefit the least from the existing solutions and financial arrangements currently in place for tackling climate change.”
President Weah suggested: “I believe that one of the ways that this can be done is to establish an African Carbon Credit Trading Mechanism. With your support, Liberia will be willing to host a conference in the near future to explore the details and structure of such an entity. We will work with Pan-African and other global financial institutions to develop a long-term regulated market for African carbon credit”.
Concluding, the Liberian Leader said he is “convinced that these initiatives will increase the chances of all African countries that depend on their forest reserves to attain sustainable economic growth and national development in line with the vision set out in the 2030 Agenda.”