{"id":6335,"date":"2023-11-30T14:13:07","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T14:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jalboutmaysa.com\/?p=6335"},"modified":"2023-11-30T14:13:09","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T14:13:09","slug":"episode-20-the-decisive-decade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jalboutmaysa.com\/episode-20-the-decisive-decade\/","title":{"rendered":"Episode 20 &#8211; This Is The Decisive Decade"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Ahead of COP28, global environmental advocate Wanjira Mathai shares her hopes and fears about the state of climate action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/1814150\/14062097-wanjira-mathai-this-is-the-decisive-decade.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-14062097&#038;player=small\" type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Overview<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Wanjira Mathai is the managing director of the World Resources Institute (WRI), the chief Africa adviser to the Bezos Earth Fund and the former chair of the Green Belt Movement in her native Kenya.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking to Maysa Jalbout on The Impact Room ahead of COP28, Mathai, describes the moment we\u2019re in as \u201cthe decisive decade\u201d and warns that \u201cthe science is getting shaper\u201d, \u201cthe challenge is deep\u201d, and \u201cwe have a lot of work to do\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mathai, who was named one of Time magazine&#8217;s 100 Most Influential People of 2023, says she hopes that COP28 in the UAE will be \u201cdominated by a spirit of action and implementation\u201d. And she calls for \u201ca consensus\u201d on operationalising the loss and damage fund as well as further commitments to double finance for climate adaptation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nairobi-based Wajira Mathai is an active voice in AFR 100, the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative, which aims to restore 100 million hectares on the continent by 2030.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>WRI, through its Restore Local Initiative, recently received US$100m from the Audacious Project to accelerate locally led land restoration in Lake Kivu and the Congo River Basin in the DRC, in the Cocoa Belt of Ghana,&nbsp;and in Kenya\u2019s Rift Valley. This was in addition to US$50m already committed by the Bezos Earth Fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The fact that this funding is committed over multiple years and comes from a group of donors is as important as its value, Mathai says, as it creates an important proof of concept for pooled funding for climate adaptation and restoration projects in the Global South.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRestoration in Africa remains one of the greatest opportunities for building climate resilience,\u201d she explains.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe know that if landscapes are restored, a lot happens. You have increased food productivity because soils are improved\u2026 Landscapes regenerate and restore pretty quickly. All things considered. So in two to three decades, you can have a complete transformation of landscapes and livelihoods.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In September 2023, Africa hosted its first climate summit in Kenya. Mathai sees this as a significant milestone in the continent\u2019s role when it comes to fighting climate change. \u201cWe are part of the climate solution,\u201d she says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe&#8217;re not part of the problem\u2026 We have a lot going for us. We have the fastest growing workforce in the world, an abundance of critical minerals and an abundance of renewable energy, which could come together and catalyse not only economic transformation for Africa, but also become part of the renewable energy revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For all the challenges facing the climate, Mathai says she remains optimistic about the future. \u201cI am optimistic, mainly because the alternative is unacceptable,\u201d she tells Maysa, noting that she\u2019s inspired by revolutions in electric vehicles and solar, and in the growing youth and local leadership movements.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;m inspired by so many signals around that remind you that exponential change is possible,\u201d she says. \u201cWe have so much more democratic space. We have so many more tools. We have so many more of us. We have to be optimistic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read the World Resources Institute&#8217;s 2023 State of Climate Action report\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wri.org\/research\/state-climate-action-2023?utm_campaign=wridigest&amp;utm_source=wridigest-2023-11-29&amp;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>You could listen to all the episodes of The Impact Room <a href=\"https:\/\/jalboutmaysa.com\/podcasts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About the host<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maysa Jalbout<\/strong>&nbsp;is a leader in international development and philanthropy. Her previous roles include founding CEO of the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education, a $1bn philanthropic initiative based in Dubai, and founding CEO of the Queen Rania Foundation. Maysa is a visiting scholar at MIT and ASU, and a non-resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Find her on Twitter,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MaysaJalbout\" target=\"_blank\">@MaysaJalbout<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ahead of COP28, global environmental advocate Wanjira Mathai shares her hopes and fears about the state of climate action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6336,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[125,148,145,143,95,146,142,144],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Episode 20 - This Is The Decisive Decade Podcasts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ahead of COP28, global environmental advocate Wanjira Mathai shares her hopes and fears about the state of climate action.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jalboutmaysa.com\/episode-20-the-decisive-decade\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Episode 20 - This Is The Decisive Decade Podcasts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ahead of COP28, global environmental advocate Wanjira Mathai shares her hopes and fears about the state of climate action.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jalboutmaysa.com\/episode-20-the-decisive-decade\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MAYSA JALBOUT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-30T14:13:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-30T14:13:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jalboutmaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/wm-potrait-e1701353559137.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"534\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"606\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"s@lly\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"s@lly\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jalboutmaysa.com\/episode-20-the-decisive-decade\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jalboutmaysa.com\/episode-20-the-decisive-decade\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"s@lly\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jalboutmaysa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6c3c07d70938ac3139952a475ad4c8c6\"},\"headline\":\"Episode 20 &#8211; 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