The 54 member countries of commonwealth league have been challenged to implement the proposed Call to Action on Living Lands (CALL).
This call was made on Wednesday at a high-level breakfast side event on Acceleration Action on climate change featuring statements from the Prime Ministers of Saint Lucia,Tonga, Mauritius and Fiji.
“The proposed Living-Lands Charter will spur actions for enhancing climate action and efficient management of landmass, soils and terrain. We are gratified the Commonwealth continues to be at The forefront of the global movement to address climate change,” said Prime Minister KumarJugnauth of Mauritius.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Tonga “Siaosi Sovaleni Huakavameiliku noted, “Tonga continues to grapple with a longstanding combination of climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation crises, making it even more challenging to achieve development goals. Let us make the right choice and take required actions together.”
Understanding Commonwealth Living Lands Charter
Land resources comprising soil, water and biodiversity, which serve dual roles as key resources and sinks of greenhouse gases, are fundamental components for the survival of life on this planet.
Extreme and rapidly changing global climatic conditions continue to threaten infrastructure, livelihoods of people, and the survival of ecosystems.
Thesustainable use of land resources is essential for the attainment of growth and can contribute substantially to climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience, including through the promotion of sustainable forest and oceans management, and the protection of other terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems.
A lack of action to address land degradation and biodiversity loss would lead to increases in greenhouse gas emissions and reductions in carbon sinks resulting in the failure to lower emissions required to limit global warming to 1.5°C or 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
The Commonwealth Secretariat recognises the need to coordinate urgent action to boost biodiversity conservation, reduce land degradation and enhance land-based climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts through sustainable development.
The Commonwealth Call to Action on Living Lands (CALL) engenders the 54 member countries to synergise the implementation of the commitments agreed to under the three Rio Conventions — United
Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD), United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) — through the Commonwealth Living Lands Charter.
The Commonwealth Living Lands Charter will be implemented around five thematic areas, and will be facilitated by Action Groups, unlocking the power of 54 nations and guiding the roll out of five implementation strategies.
The action groups will have “Thematic Lead” countries championing the implementation strategies for the five thematic areas in consortium mode with national, regional and international entities to address identified priority land issues.
The implementation of the Commonwealth Living Lands Charter will be supported by the established platforms, mechanisms and initiatives of the Commonwealth Secretariat, particularly The Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub (CCFAH).
Commonwealth Accredited Organisations, including intergovernmental, parliamentary, professional and civil society bodies, will also be consulted to provide support and technical expertise on climate resilient natural resource management.
