Home to lush tropical rainforests, magnificent mountains, and pristine islands and seas, Papua New Guinea is one of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries, accounting for about five percent of global biodiversity.
However, climate change and unsustainable growth threaten these natural assets, ones that the people have enjoyed for thousands of years.
Sipora Naraga, a resident of Aromot Island, an atoll off the coast of Umbol Island the Vitiaz Strait of Morobe Province, laments about what has come to pass.
“Our island is smaller now than it was before.”
“The soil isn’t fertile like it used to be, we can’t grow anything here,” she says.
Sipora’s story speaks directly to the impacts of climate change, deforestation, and degradation of land and water.
PNG’s abundant natural assets underpin its potential to manage and use these assets to generate an ‘ecosystem services’ economy – based on fisheries, tourism, and renewable energy. And yet much of the country’s recent growth has been fueled by hydrocarbon-based industrialization and the extractive industries.
In 2019, extractives made up over a quarter of the country’s gross domestic product and accounted for 88% of its export revenues.
And yet, much of the population has not benefited from these revenues.
It is mostly subsistence-based agriculture, forestry, and fishing sectors that account for a quarter of the GDP, and supports over 80% of the population.
Recognizing the threats to its marine and terrestrial environment and acknowledging its global role as a frontier nation in the fight against climate change, the Government of PNG has made several strong international commitments and has advanced its domestic legislation and policy statements.
Implementation, however, has fallen short of the commendable intent and ambition.
A report recently published by the PNG Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA) and UNDP offers some clear insights.
The report – “Making Nature’s Value Visible” – presents clear evidence and data that the highly concentrated extractive-based growth, combined with insufficient enforcement of environmental standards cannot sustainably and inclusively increase the country’s prosperity.
The development imperative for PNG is clear. The country will gain significantly in both the short and long run, by pivoting its economy toward its most abundant resource: the natural environment. Moving rapidly to renewable energy, introducing sustainable agriculture and fisheries practices at scale, and restoring and regenerating the country’s marine and terrestrial environments, are all essential investments in the country’s future.