More than 62% of Africa’s rural population depends directly on ecosystem services, yet the continent is estimated to lose approximately US$195 billion in natural capital every year through unsustainable and illicit activities, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has said.
The ECA said biodiversity is one of Africa’s greatest strategic assets, noting that the continent is home to more than a quarter of the world’s biodiversity and hosts eight of the world’s 36 biodiversity hotspots.
The Congo Basin alone is the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest and accounts for around 10% of global biodiversity.
“This natural wealth supports our food and water systems, livelihoods and economies. So, for Africa, biodiversity cannot be treated simply as an environmental issue. It is an economic and development issue.
“When nature is degraded, we undermine the very foundations on which our development depends. And this is why biodiversity must become part of the economic decisions we make,” the commission said.
Speaking at this year’s UN Biodiversity Conference and a briefing by the CBD COP17 Armenian Presidency in Addis Ababa, UN Under-Secretary-General and ECA Executive Secretary Claver Gatete said biodiversity needs to be reflected in national development plans, fiscal and investment policies, and decisions on infrastructure, trade and industrialisation.
“That is an area where ECA is working closely with our member States. We support our member States across three closely connected areas: making nature more visible in economic decision-making, integrating biodiversity into development planning and mobilizing new sources of finance,” he said.
On natural capital accounting and valuation, Gatete said the commission is helping countries better quantify the contribution of ecosystems to their economies.
Through its Blue Economy Valuation Toolkit, for example, the ECA is helping make the economic value of marine and coastal assets more visible to policymakers and investors, he said.
“On policy integration, our Framework for National Nature Strategies helps countries align biodiversity commitments with national development priorities and macroeconomic planning.
“And on biodiversity finance, ECA is developing a Biodiversity Credit Toolkit to help policymakers establish the policy, regulatory and institutional conditions for high-integrity biodiversity credit markets. But our ambition should go beyond conserving biodiversity,” he said.
Gatete also stressed the need to examine how Africa’s natural wealth can support jobs, particularly for women and young people, strengthen sectors such as agriculture, fisheries and tourism, and contribute to more diversified and resilient economies.
“And we need to consider how Africa can retain more of the value generated from its biodiversity. Africa must move beyond its traditional role as a supplier of biological resources and raw data.
“We need to strengthen our capabilities in research and innovation, biotechnology and other areas that will enable us to create greater value from these resources.
“Our ambition should not only be to conserve and sustainably use our biodiversity, but also to create, retain and capture greater economic and technological value from it,” he said.
He also said the focus on conservation, value creation and economic opportunity should help shape Africa’s priorities at COP17, noting the need for progress on implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
“We need adequate, predictable and accessible finance and we need international cooperation that enables African countries to build the technology and capacity required to participate more competitively in the biodiversity economy.
“We must also recognize that biodiversity, climate and land degradation cannot be addressed in isolation. As we look towards COP17 in Yerevan and then COP32 here in Addis Ababa in 2027, we have an opportunity to strengthen the connections between these agendas and ensure they support Africa’s broader economic transformation,” he said.
The ECA boss said it is a collective responsibility for all Africans to ensure that Africa’s biodiversity contributes more fully to the continent’s development and economic transformation.
“We must protect and sustainably use this natural wealth, while ensuring that our people derive greater economic value from it.
“It is with that understanding that ECA remains committed to working with our member States, the African Union and our partners to help make that possible,” he concluded.
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