World leaders are meeting in Montreal – Canada for the second part of COP 15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Unfortunately, the loss of biodiversity has not received the same amount of attention as other environmental problems such as climate change, and pollution. The limited attention should not in any way indicate biodiversity being less important but rather it should be attributed to limited knowledge and awareness of the subject. According to the CBD, Biological diversity means the variability among living organisms from all sources, both on land and in the waters. The 2021 IPBES study highlighted the fast rate at which species are being and approximately 1 million threatened plants and animals. The main causes are rapid changes in land use, climate change, and pollution. It would be more helpful if the global discussions around biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate change were held concurrently since the issues are highly intertwined. I recently returned from the 1st Inter-Government Negotiation where more than 2500 delegates gathered to articulate potential elements to be considered in a global treaty to end plastic pollution by 240; another legal instrument in the pipeline. We can confidently say that plastics are another form of fossil fuel. If the shift to renewable clean energy is to ever be achieved, the global warming issues that cause climate change will be dealt with alongside the plastic pollution controlled from the upstream, which are all reflected in healthy ecosystems. The time has come for countries to tackle the three environmental issues in an integrated fashion and shift from piecemeal negotiations to implementation and fragmented reporting systems. From these suggestions, one may conclude that the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) is anti-multilateralism. However, our point is that cooperation between countries is key but it can only bear results when there is good implementation on the national level. Thankfully, Rwanda’s approach to dealing with the triple environmental crisis (climate change, pollution, and loss of biodiversity) has always been integrated with a bottom-up approach putting the people’s well-being at the center. Without the forward-looking leadership, Rwanda’s fast rates of urbanisation would by now have led to urban areas which we all appreciate, but which are also unliveable. Recently, we freed our wetlands from all illegal economic activities, but the work to return them to full ecological function is still ongoing. Unfortunately, even as countries are discussing ways to increase such protected areas in Canada this week, many people here still refer to the vegetation in our wetlands as “umwanda”. We should be proud of the progress we have made in the field of climate policy and advocacy. However, in order to fully tackle the environmental issues that threaten both current and future generations, we cannot ignore the devastating effects of pollution and the loss of biodiversity. A single-minded focus on climate change is simply no longer enough, while our ecosystems are being destroyed by plastics and thousands of species are lost every year. The author is the Director General of the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA).
