Meeting the world’s sustainability challenges depends on how we realize opportunities in the world’s landscapes.
PARIS – Welcoming participants of the 5th Global Landscapes Forum, Peter Holmgren, Director General of CIFOR – the Center for International Forestry Research – has called for a redoubling of investment in the “landscape economy” to meet sustainable development goals (SDGs).
“Many of the solutions to a better and more equitable world are found in the world’s landscapes,” said Mr Holmgren. “The landscape economy is huge and the investments in landscapes must be scaled up. Making those investments generate real returns will be crucial.”
He emphasized that creating holistic solutions to global problems, like climate change and inequity, requires a deeper appreciation of the many values of landscapes: social and environmental as well as economic.
“Landscapes are about people, and their diversity of aspirations and goals, ownership of solutions, local accountability, modesty, respecting nature and each other, making progress, caring for the future. So, we all agree that landscapes are about integrated solutions. We need to take that to heart.”
Read his full speech and watch the video here
