Nigerian banker and co-founder of Access Bank Plc, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede has called on investors and businesses leaders on the need fight for the preservation of biodiversity of the planet through improved funding. He also called for institutions to follow sustainable business practices and public private partnership in their operations.
Aig-Imoukhuede led Nigerian banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the adoption of the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles. He also made a business case for private sector activism, stating that: “biodiversity provides annual benefits valued at approximately $120 trillion– more than the entire world economy. In contrast, the global financing needs for achieving the Convention on Biological Diversity is less than one per cent of its annual economic benefits.
Speaking at the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly, he appealed to business leaders, investors and heads of government on the urgency to collectively fight for the preservation of biodiversity of the planet. He said there is an increased urgency to demonstrate leadership and commitment to improve relationship with nature, adding that appearance of COVID-19 has shown that when we destroy biodiversity, we destroy the system that supports human life.
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The summit, a high-level virtual Summit organized by UN General Assembly President, Volkan Bozkir to support the first United Nations Summit on Biodiversity at the level of heads of state and government was themed “Urgent Action on Biodiversity for Sustainable Development.”
Speaking as the sole African non-state actor at the Summit, Aig-Imoukhuede stated that the loss of biodiversity is not only an environmental issue, but also a developmental, economic, health, security and moral one.
The United Nations revealed that biodiversity is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history, with growing impacts on people and our planet and Africa is no exception. Bringing this home to Africa, Aig-Imoukhuede noted that “Africa is immensely rich in biodiversity and yet by the end of this century, Africa could lose up to 30 percent of its entire animal and plant species as a result of excessive exploitation, unsustainable industrialization, deforestation, pollution and many harmful human activities.”
