President Weah Makes Liberia’s case at COP 26

By Mark Neywon in Glasgow  Mengonfia-mmenginfia@gmail.com

Glasgow in the United Kingdom  is the center of attraction as world leaders have gathered to push for ways to reduce Green House gasses and  take actions to help save the world.

President George  M. Weah is part of those world leaders who are currently in Glasgow, United Kingdom making the case of his Country.

Speaking at the World Leaders Summit, President Weah said as a developing country, they  are all aware that there is an inherent imbalance in the current architecture of climate financing.

He said, “Countries like Liberia, who maintain and protect the largest remaining tract of forest reserves, receive the lowest benefits for these ecosystem services”.

In his statement, President Weah indicated that Liberia as the richest in terms of forest resources and biodiversity, they are the poorest in terms of socio-economic development.  The Liberian leader said,” Although we bear the brunt of the impact of climate change, we benefit the least from the existing solutions and financial arrangements currently in place for tackling climate change.”

He recommend that in order to address the imbalance, there needs to be a fundamental shift in the way they as world leaders can tackle what he calls ” mismatch” in climate investments.

The Liberian leader furthered, “I believe that one of the ways that this can be done is to establish an African Carbon Credit Trading Mechanism.”

Pushing the country’s case more, President Weah said with the support of his colleagues, Liberia will be willing to host a conference in the near future to explore the details and structure of the proposed entity.

“We will work with pan-African and other global financial institutions to develop a long-term regulated market for African carbon credit,” President Weah said at the event that saw world leaders gather.

President Weah said he is convinced that these initiatives he advanced will increase the chances of all African countries that depend on their forest reserves to attain sustainable economic growth and national development in line with the vision set out in the 2030 Agenda.

President Weah ended his statement by saying,” Together, we can make a difference as a shared community of global citizens with a common destiny. Together we can heal the world from the scourges of climate change. Together, we can save this earth from the deadly consequences of global warming.  Together, we can bring humankind into harmony with nature.”

President Weah is also attending other side meetings ensuring that Liberia receives a share of what the world has to protect the forest and to provide green jobs in the coming years.