African heads of state and government call for the continent’s vast natural capital, worth trillions of dollars, to be considered when measuring the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of their countries.
This emerged at a high-level meeting held at the ongoing COP29, in Azerbaijan.
Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of Congo, said the African continent must make the best of its natural capital, that is neglected or ignored in national accounts. This, he said, should be integrated as part of a country’s wealth.
“We are doing useful work for Africa and the rest of the world, in contributing to the acceleration of the recognition of the environmental dividend” he said.
The session was jointly convened by President Sassou Nguesso, the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Musalia Mudavadi, and the president of the African Development Bank Group Dr Akinwumi Adesina.
Adesina expressed concern at what he described as the ‘carbon grab’ where several African countries were giving away their vast amounts of land to carbon credits, yet getting very little in return.
While the price of carbon in Europe is high and could be as high as $200 per ton because of the strict EU Emission Trading Standards, the carbon price in Africa could be as low as $3 to $10 per ton.
In their communique, African leaders said they would work with other developing countries and regions of the world, including Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as Asia, in forging a strong global alliance to ensure the inclusion of natural capital in the GDP of nations.
Picture: Supplied