Yesterday, a press statement, titled: “Recover from the Global Recession, We must Invest in Nature” –  authored and signed by a group of prominent global players, made up of former presidents and prime ministers, including Sierra Leone’s former president Ernest Bai Koroma, who are members of the ‘Campaign for Nature’s Global Steering Committee’, was published, calling for change.

This is what they said:

Ranging from former heads of state to former foreign ministers and diplomats, we have come together to serve as the Global Steering Committee for the Campaign for Nature.

Specifically, we have formed this group with the overarching purpose of calling on world leaders to support a new global goal to protect at least 30 percent of the planet’s land and ocean by 2030.

We also believe that nature conservation must both be a core element of the economic rescue plans that global leaders are developing to respond to the emerging global recession, and a cornerstone of creating a resilient new economy.

We would like to endorse the report’s findings and urge countries around the world to urgently invest in nature conservation for several reasons:

We are living at a pivotal moment in world history, and we are motivated by the opportunity for all countries to work together, in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and local communities, as a global community to invest in nature for the benefit of all people and societies.