Regenerative Development to Reverse Climate Change 2 \ My aim is to create an integrated framework so that countries can develop evidence-based strategies to reduce global warming and regenerate their communities, while achieving economic growth at the same time. Acknowledgements: We wish to thank everyone who has been directly and indirectly involved in informing the vision and shape of this publication. Special acknowledgement is due to our partner, the Cloudburst Foundation, which has been instrumental in the launch of our Regenerative Development to Reverse Climate Change initiative. In particular, this publication draws heavily from the Cloudburst Foundation’s work on Regenerative Development to Reverse Climate Change on pages 6, 9 and 10. \ 3 Foreword Rt Hon Patricia Scotland, QC Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Stepping out of the still-whirring helicopter and I left Iwokrama ready to roll up my sleeves and get onto the lush green grass of Iwokrama, Guyana’s to work on exploring the potential of regenerative tropical rainforest reserve, I knew I was about to development. In partnership with the Cloudburst begin an amazing journey. Foundation, the Commonwealth held the first Regenerative Development to Reverse Climate The two-hour ride from Georgetown, the country’s Change (RDRCC) event in London less than five capital, had given me a bird’s eye view of this hidden months later and then another in May 2017. paradise where the air is so clean it is often referred to as the earth’s lung. In the first workshop, sixty eminent academics, economic and social scientists, activists and Now, as I stood beneath the never-ending stretch climate action financiers from all parts of the world of treetops, I knew I was in the midst of an explosion came together to answer a question: ‘is it possible of exotic life, with at least 1,250 plant species, more to reverse climate change using a regenerative than 500 species of birds, and endangered species approach?’ The answer was a resounding yes. such as the world’s largest otter. In May we received strong backing from climate In many ways it was a milestone trip. Firstly because of action advocates such as Prince Charles, former the sheer inspirational power of the habitat, but also president of Kiribati Anote Tong and former because of the insights I gained as I sat with Dane president of Ireland Mary Robinson. Mr Tong, who Gobbin, CEO of the Iwokrama International Centre planned for a possible evacuation of people from his for Rainforest Conservation and Development, and island as a result of severe sea level rises, described Sydney Allicock, a member of the nearby Macushi the regenerative development model as a “light at tribe and Guyana’s fourth Vice President and Minister the end of the tunnel”. of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs. What we have seen recently in the Caribbean, It was much more than a conversation about Africa, Asia and the Pacific is unprecedented. This conservation. It was about the sacred principles sharp increase in monster storms, floods and that govern the Macushi tribe’s interaction landslides and the sheer scale of the devastation with their environment. Minister Allicock spoke they cause, is irrefutable proof that climate change about understanding our role in the ecosystem is an ominous threat to our very existence and the and benefitting from nature while preserving its starkest reminder that urgent action is a must. This pristine state. is why I have called for a task force to co-ordinate His words resonated with the message of a rapid response to natural disasters affecting regenerative development which is being promoted member countries. by some of the globe’s leading academics, Ultimately, my aim is to create an integrated scientists and environmentalists. This recognises framework so that countries can develop evidence- that people are part of nature and part of the based strategies to reduce global warming and ecosystem in which we live. It is based on the idea regenerate their communities, while achieving that we can simultaneously improve ecological economic growth at the same time. To accomplish health, socio-cultural vitality, economic value and this goal, I need everyone to work together. I hope you human potential in an integrated manner. will join me on this exciting journey to save our planet. 4 \ The Climate Change Challenge If you live in Kiribati, a collection of 33 coral atolls and reef islands in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, climate change is a stark reality. The islands’ 114,395 people, dispersed over 3.5 million sq. km, live with regular flooding that is destroying their houses, killing their crops and poisoning their drinking water. The main island, Tarawa, is only a few metres above frequent, coral reefs are dying in warming acidic sea level. And with that level predicted to rise by oceans and marine ecosystems are being disrupted up to a metre and a half by the end of the century, or destroyed. there is concern that children born today in Kiribati On land, climate change is leading to desertification, may live to see their island completely disappear droughts, wildfires, decreasing crop yields and into the ocean. diminishing food and water security. In 2017, In the Caribbean, vulnerable countries are suffering hundreds of people perished in mudslides in Sierra the onslaught of some of the deadliest storms Leone. There were also floods in Bangladesh, since records began. With increasing frequency Pakistan and India, displacing millions and taking and ferocity, natural disasters such as Storm Erica lives. In recent times, East African countries have and Hurricanes Irma and Maria are demolishing suffered some of the worst droughts, causing infrastructure, businesses and homes, decimating severe food shortages and a refugee crisis. economies and destroying lives and livelihoods. There is also concern about increasing diseases These challenges, scientists believe, are largely the such as dengue, malaria and Lyme disease. Climate result of an increase in carbon dioxide and other change, brought about by unsustainable human gasses from industrial processes that are having activity, has also been linked to an increasing rate of a heat-trapping effect on our atmosphere. As a animal and plant extinctions.. result, temperatures are warming up, oceans are becoming more acidic and climate patterns are changing. Storms are becoming more violent and \ 5 The Trillion-dollar Question This existential threat will wreak havoc, not just on the natural environment but also on economies and pace of development. It poses a tough question: ‘action or inaction, which is costlier?’ Last year, the London School of Economics agreed to “significantly increase technological estimated that climate change could eliminate and technology support to developing countries US$2.5 trillion of the globe’s financial assets. A to facilitate the deployment and diffusion of clean United Nations report later found that economic technologies through a range of mechanisms.” This growth as measured by GDP would be 10%, agreement influenced the 15th Conference of the or US$12 trillion, higher if the 1.5°C threshold Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Framework is achieved. Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen later that year. The Commonwealth has been at the forefront of efforts to address climate change since 1989. At their summit in 2015, Commonwealth Heads That year, Commonwealth Heads of Government of Government agreed to a powerful climate signed the Langkawi Declaration, for the first change statement with an enforceable two degrees time committing their countries to an active role limit on global temperature rise with aspirations in protecting natural balances and preventing to 1.5 degrees, just days before COP21 in Paris. environmental deterioration. Their consensus contributed to the landmark international agreement in which governments Since then, the 52-member intergovernmental committed to action that would limit global warming organisation’s work on climate action has to two degrees. accelerated. In 2009, at their summit in Port of Spain, Trinidad, leaders signed the Port of Spain In 2016, the Commonwealth opened the doors to Climate Change Consensus: The Commonwealth its Climate Finance Access Hub, to help countries Climate Change Declaration. make successful applications for funding from climate change financing mechanisms. Later the The agreement acknowledged that humanity same year the Commonwealth Secretariat, in had a “few short years” to avert the “catastrophic partnership with the Cloudburst Foundation, gave impacts” of climate change. Heads of governments birth to the RDRCC initiative. 6 \ The Regenerative Development Revolution Tackling climate change requires a complete between social systems and economies. In creating revolution in the way we interact with our interlinked systems, it stimulates the creative environment. The agreement to take action to limit potential of people and places. temperature rises to two degrees was historic, and By working to conserve biological biodiversity mitigation and adaptation strategies are vital. But and reverse both land degradation and climate the global community must do more if it is to save change, regenerative development will create the countries most vulnerable to climate change, sustainable investment opportunities across such as Kiribati. the Commonwealth using approaches such as Regenerative development has the potential to public-private partnerships and private finance realise and exceed