The African Swamp Protecting Earth's Environment | Vera Songwe | TED

There is a play by one of my favorite writers,

Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka,

I would like to tell you about,

"The Swamp Dwellers."

"The Swamp Dwellers" are about a blind beggar

who attempts to buy a piece of swampland

because he believes that the swamps will provide him

with a better livelihood.

However, the villagers in that swamp believe

that deep in the forests of the swamp lies a deity

whose job is to protect them from all misfortune.

There is another swamp

that protects us from misfortune.

And holds the promise of humanity's survival.

Those are the peatlands of the Congo Basin.

The peatlands of the Congo Basin

are a lush, vast, expanse of weeds, shrubs

and trees that absorb carbon

from the atmosphere.

They span 145,000 kilometers.

The peat formations began 10,000 years ago,

when man moved from hunter-gatherer to farmer.

Nature, I guess, figured, "I better start protecting myself."

A couple of years ago,

scientists discovered that these tropical peatlands

are probably the largest carbon sink in the world.

They store 30 billion tons of carbon.

If they did not exist,

we would have probably already stepped beyond

the threshold of 1.5 degrees of warming.

However, the peatlands are under threat.

We have, of course, oil explorations being contemplated.

Logging licenses have already been awarded.

And many of the communities that live around the peatlands

have just this for survival.

We have all collectively seen,

in the Amazon forest,

burning down because of economic interest.

Turning this forest from carbon sink to carbon source.

We have witnessed, in Indonesia, the swamps drained

for palm oil plantations.

Turning them from carbon sink to carbon source.

It will be devastating if the same fate

were to befall the peatlands of the Congo Basin.

The peatlands are a passion of mine.

I believe they must be protected.

But we must also, in this fight against climate change,

ensure that responsibility and accountability

are adequately apportioned.

The world emits over 54 billion tons of carbon.

The peatlands of the Congo Basin absorb a large majority of that.

Africa emits 1.2 billion tons of carbon a year.

And the communities that live around the peatlands

have no access to basic services.

Education, health care,

clean drinking water, an adequate meal,

good transportation, technology.

Clearly, they are not tweeting.

The peatlands are an economic asset,

which, if valued appropriately, could provide the stepping stone

for these communities to improve their livelihoods.

Nature has acted already as a store of value for the peatlands.

A kind of federal reserve.

Now, imagine if we had a price for carbon at 50 dollars.

With 30 billion tons of carbon sequestered in the peatlands,

we're talking at 1.5 trillion.

A peatland development fund

could help us today to address the stubborn

and seemingly persistent developmental challenges

that the continent faces today.

This is not just about decarbonization.

This is also about development with dignity.

This is about equity.

It is about justice, and it is about transparency.

(Applause)

Indeed, Africa has not contributed enormously

to the climate crisis.

But we have visibly contributed enormously to keeping the planet alive.

We can, therefore ...

(Applause)

Not expect, but as the blind beggar,

we continue to plead for assistance to achieve a better livelihood,

and we certainly cannot be like Wole Soyinka’s swamp dwellers

who wait patiently while the world overlooks

and undermines Africa's contribution to climate change.

Science has recognized Africa's contribution.

I ask you to join me in recognizing Africa's contribution,

and collectively,

we must ask the markets to recognize

and adequately reward Africa's contribution

by putting a price on carbon.

(Applause)