The province of Misiones in Argentina as a high-ranking ministerial Latin American reference on climate change issues

Patricio Lombardi

Executive Director of the Carbon Markets Fairness Foundation

Two years ago I had the honor of being appointed minister of climate change for Misiones. Today, outside of the government, I can say with confidence that, from politics, it is possible to change things in favor of the climate and the planet.

From the government we were able to manage clear actions in favor of biodiverse forests. Specifically at COP 26 in Glasgow, we signed a historic agreement, where the province as a subnational state and under the redd+ program enters the voluntary carbon market, for which it will receive non-reimbursable international funds, to prevent deforestation by working side by side with to the communities that conserve it. 

At the same climate change summit in Glasgow, we also signed the beginning of a south-south alliance, creating a coalition of countries and regions of Latin America and Africa that share this conceptual vision of respect for our biomes. That we clearly understand that we are environmental creditors. 

Now it is our responsibility to tell the world that conservation without money is pure conversation. 

The approach in this matter must be holistic. We are facing a huge crisis, created by ourselves. The tools we need to solve it are based on nature itself. We are part of that solution. We must connect more with nature, connect with the health of the planet. 

A biodiverse forest provides us with fresh water, healthy food, soil and fertile land, moisture that will later become rain, genetic diversity, a varied flora, fauna with its pollinators, and microbial life that guarantees a healthy life cycle. 

A true biodiverse forest, it shelter native peoples with their ancestral knowledge. And from these forests, medicines are obtained that range from aspirin to morphine, and there are several oncological drugs that come from these biomes. 

But we humans consume 1.6 planets a year, which places us in a clear environmental default. With each passing year, we consume the planet's resources at a faster rate than they can be recovered.

To put it financially, we live on overdraft.

In the last 30 years, planet earth has lost 40% of its natural capital. That is the decadent extractivist and patriarchal economic model that has measured the price of everything, but the value of nothing. That has reached out to the planet as if its resources were infinite…. 

We have to start measuring the value of nature. 

And do not confuse value with price. Nature must be valued, cared for and respected. 

We do not exist independently of nature, because we are nature. 

Bulldozing and destroying our forests is directly related to our health. The new paradigm of one health is based on this, where human and planetary health are inseparable. 

Even climate change is not seen with the same gravity and urgency as the pandemic, we have not acted as quickly as we responded to the coronavirus. 

The planet earth is in a clear process of deforestation. Which is followed by desertification. With its irreparable and increasingly devastating consequences, our land, our pacha mama, is running out of life, without nutrients.

Biodiverse forests are a source of life and a source of health. From a healthy soil, healthy food comes out, from a toxic soil, the diseases that we are seeing associated with the food we consume come out. 

We are in time to heal the planet. There are no cracks in this. The solution is with everyone. 

We need to have a holistic approach to these issues. 

The earth with its biodiverse forests are an intelligent system made up of countless organisms. With millions of years of existence. Humans are only one aspect of that life. 

We must link better with that planetary intelligence.

It is necessary to establish a more loving bond, of greater connection.

That’s why I ask you to talk about these issues with ours. 

May we multiply our voice.

All together and each one from their individuality, we can improve the present and treat the planet, our common home, with more respect and with more love.