As the Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils 2024 focuses on the theme of “Climate Action, Nature Protection, and the Energy Transition,” it emphasizes the critical connection between nature and societal development. Nature is the foundation for developing our health, livelihoods, food security, and energy. Especially as the climate issue continues to worsen, the state of our natural ecosystem has become increasingly important. According to the United Nations, due to the loss of nature, less-developed countries could lose up to 10% of their real GDP annually by 2030 and endanger 80% of threatened and near-threatened species. Organizations such as the World Bank Group (WBG) acknowledge the situation's imperative nature and support development by integrating nature protection into policies and investments.
HOLISTIC APPROACH BY THE WORLD BANK
The WBG stated that there are six global response areas under their whole-of-economy approach. Firstly, the bank seeks to engage economic and financial decision-makers while integrating sustainable objectives into national strategies despite challenges in policy coordination. Next, its second approach is to incorporate nature into different business sectors. By promoting strategic planning and investments in environmentally friendly sectors, they ease sectors into the new age of sustainability. Third, the WBG aims to foster local benefits of nature conservation by supporting integrated landscape management, restoration, and innovative financing, addressing over-exploitation, and sustaining the creation of jobs through tourism recovery. The fourth area under this approach is the mobilization of finances; by aligning financial flows with sustainability, mobilizing finance becomes highly effective. Next is the development of metrics and decision support tools, with end goals for organizations to make better-informed investment decisions that center around biodiversity and ecosystem conversation. Last is the area concerning leveraging partnerships, whereas the WBG promotes collaboration between stakeholders to combat the challenge of lack of communication.
IMPACT IN INDONESIA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
The WBG's progress in this area can be evidently seen throughout Southeast Asia. In Indonesia specifically, two projects promote the improvement and conservation of nature and ecosystems. These are the WBG's Mangroves for Coastal Resilience project, which aims to rehabilitate the country's mangroves, and the Sustainable Oceans Program, which aids the transition into a blue economy. For the latter, sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth and improved livelihoods and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystems. Oceans are vital to Indonesia's economic prosperity. The ocean economy alone is worth over $256 billion annually, according to the country's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, with 70% of Indonesians living in coastal areas and over 50% of the country's protein supply deriving from fisheries. However, overfishing, plastic pollution, and development currently threaten the country's most significant natural capital. Many of these challenges are also becoming increasingly worrying due to climate change's impact, and the mentioned projects of the WBG aim to rehabilitate 75,000 hectares of mangroves while strengthening coastal development opportunities.
One thing is clear: investing in nature is essential for sustainable development. To maximize the impact of this investment, a comprehensive, whole-of-economy approach is necessary. It is vital to foster collaboration between governments and the private sector, with governments creating incentives and safeguards that encourage partnership and establish an environment that supports private sector investment.
Comments