The IUCN Local Action Summit took place on 3 September 2021—the opening day of the IUCN World Conservation Congress—in Marseille, France. Leaders convened to showcase and galvanise conservation efforts in cities and regions, make the case for a nature-based recovery to COVID-19, and announce ambitious action pledges for nature. Here follows a transcript of the speech delivered by Patricio Lombardi, Minister of Climate at the Province of Misiones, Argentina.
Thank you very much, good afternoon. It is an honour to represent Misiones Province – the only Argentinian state in Argentina that was invited to this very important Congress. This recognises the position of Misiones as an environmental leader due to the positive climate action we carry out, our state policy and the effort this entails.
The experience of Misiones State is very successful, and I would like to share it with you today. We are in the northeast of Argentina sharing borders with Paraguay and Brazil. Our borders are mostly international which is a key factor to understanding our conservation policy. We currently safeguard the largest contiguous Atlantic Forest. Despite the tremendous wealth of this biome, today only 6 per cent of the original forest survives. That is to say, 94% was destroyed. Cities were built on what used to be the Atlantic Forest in our region. This is a biome that, hundreds of years ago, was known as the second-largest lung of the Earth, only comparable to the Amazon – so it was a huge ecosystem.
We must provide integrated and holistic solutions. A concrete example of our response is the decision to conserve large tracts of native forests have an impact on the increase of the jaguar population which is an iconic species across South America. The jaguar is the king of our jungles and in Misiones, thanks to State policies, we have been able to triple the population of jaguars. In the past, we only had 40 of them but 18 years later, we have more than 120 jaguars roaming free in the jungles of Misiones.
In our view, a healthy planet is a biodiverse planet. This is the main view of Misiones Province. It occupies less than 2% of Argentine territory but we have 52% of all the biodiversity in Argentina. This is very important to understand particularly with regards to the greenhouse warming effect.
There is a negative carbon trend in Misiones. We are the only province in Argentina where the carbon trend is on a negative slope. That is why we say today that we are not carbon debtors but carbon creditors. This is something that we said to the Pope when he came to visit. We also expressed our concern about the climate crisis and the holistic approach that this requires. It was Pope Francis who congratulated Misiones for establishing the first climate change ministry in all Latin America. In addition to this recognition, ZICOSUR (Integrated Zone on the Centre West of South America) elected us to chair the Commission on Environment and Climate Change. This organization brings together 7 countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay) and 71 subnational states.
Subnational states, in our view, are the agents of change, their governors and mayors oversee territories, they understand what is happening in and how to take care of their territories, and how to implement positive climate actions. That is why we are asking the international community to provide us with its help, attention and resources, by investing in climate action. Solutions should be nature-based and the Province of Misiones is an excellent example.
Thus, we enthusiastically wait for the Biodiversity COP in China and for the Glasgow Climate COP to recognise the enormous effort of local governments in conserving what is, in our Pope’s words, our common planet.
We also hope that at the next UN Summit, we will see unity and an integral approach to working on climate change rather than separately. Let me insist that the answer is urgent and should be holistic.
I would like to finish by thanking IUCN for inviting me here to speak about the case of Misiones. We of course look forward to welcoming you there with our beautiful people and the Iguazu Falls.
Basically, what’s behind it all is love. We are custodians of 52% of all the biodiversity in Argentina. It provides us with oxygen, fertile land and drinking water. This is without a doubt an act of love.
Thank you once again on behalf of the Province of Misiones and let me say it has been an honour to be here with you today.