There is only planet that supports human life.
We recognise that this planet must support not only us, but every future generation that is to come and as the current custodians of the land that supports us, we need to ensure that we leave the earth in a better state than we found it.
We do not believe that the environment and her sustainability is incongruent with economic development. In fact, we believe that the more prosperous one becomes, the more capable we become in preserving and protecting our environment and therefore prosperity and sustainability should be sought simultaneously.
Our continent is one of environmental diversity and resource richness that has been exploited for the benefit of the rest of the world. For African countries to protect her resources, we need economic strength to firstly feed our own populations while simultaneously combatting the predatory forces that seek to extract without consideration of the social and environmental implications.
The environment then, and her sustainability, is not limited to our need to decarbonise, but is also inclusive of conservation of the flora and fauna, sustaining the quality of the air we breath and the water we drink, eradicating plastic waste and pollution and managing our landfill waste in sustainable ways.
The challenges that Africa faces, specifically sub-Saharan Africa, is quite unique to Africa and therefore understanding the specific context is necessary for us to resolve our own challenges. The challenge of energy poverty, as an example, is very specific to SSA, and the sheer size of the continent means that some of these challenges become very difficult to resolve through conventional means.
The fact that we are energy poor, means that deforestation is a real sustainability risk, similarly the killing of endangered animals specifically for food but economic purposes, have characteristics that require a very specific focus on the underlying context to drive resolution.
AIA has worked extensively within the conservation, environmental and sustainability domains to meaningful contribute towards strengthening the financial and governance domains necessary for the preservation and improvement of our environment that supports all life.
