Éliane Ubalijoro

This summit is a call to action—to go beyond mitigation and embrace a bold, inclusive approach: Mitigation, Adaptation, and Societal Transformation.

That’s how we build a resilient, just, and thriving future." — @elianeubalijoro.bsky.social

#ResilientAfrica #TreesPeoplePlanet

At #RamsarCOP15, CIFOR-ICRAF will be part of the conversations on how to protect and restore wetland ecosystems.

Our CEO, @elianeubalijoro.bsky.social , shares why #WetlandsMatter and why they must be central to climate and biodiversity action.

Our agenda:👉 http://bit.ly/4eS9mJg

CIFOR-ICRAF at #COP15Ramsar 📌

Our CEO @elianeubalijoro.bsky.social will be speaking in key sessions on wetlands, resilience, and nature-based solutions.

📅 Explore our sessions and join us: 👉 http://bit.ly/4eS9mJg

#WetlandsMatter #WetlandsCOP15

“Wetlands are often sidelined in planning, but they’re central to food, water, climate, and health.

When managed as natural infrastructure, they boost resilience across agriculture, energy, and more.” 
@elianeubalijoro.bsky.social 

#RamsarCOP15 #WetlandsMatter 
@ramsar.org

During #GLFAfrica, CDKN's Zizi Royi joined an #intergenerational women’s brunch with trailblazing leaders, co-imagining future GLF conferences — focused on young women, lived experience & intergenerational dialogue.

@southsouthnorth.org @globallf.bsky.social @elianeubalijoro.bsky.social

Becoming Nature Positive launches this June.

Our CEO @elianeubalijoro.bsky.social joins global thought leaders in this book on reversing nature loss & building a just, regenerative future.

📘Join the launch:
4 June 👉 bit.ly/4dvwrAI
5 June 👉 bit.ly/43gfmrc

We rely on #biodiversity for the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe.

But nature is disappearing, and with it, our life support systems.

This #BiodiversityDay,
@elianeubalijoro.bsky.social
reminds us: True development respects nature.

🔗: bit.ly/3SfRiOM

#TreesPeoplePlanet

Great to see engagement with the publishing sector has kicked off with this @tandfresearch.bsky.social news trailer in preparation for the launch.

The piece highlights the economic case for investing in a living planet. 🌱🌳🐋🪲

newsroom.taylorandfrancisgroup.com/conservation...

A tree split in half shows a big gap in spending. On the left, fewer dollar signs for nature-based solutions ($200 billion). On the right, many dollar signs for harmful activities ($7 trillion).

Nearly $7 trillion USD is invested annually in activities harming nature, while investments in Nature-based Solutions total only around $200 billion.

It’s time to flip these numbers.

Check UNEP’s State of Finance for Nature for more data: financefornature.unep.org

Africa’s first ‘AI factory’ could be a breakthrough for the continent CNN  —  There’s excitement bubbling in Kigali, Rwanda, ahead of the Global AI Summit on Africa, which opens today, promising economic opportunities and innovation. Not least because of last week’s announcement from Cassava Technologies, a tech firm founded by Zimbabwean telecoms billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, that it would be building Africa’s first “artificial intelligence factory,” in partnership with leading AI chipmaker Nvidia.

Africa’s first ‘AI factory’ could be a breakthrough for the continent

CNN  —  There’s excitement bubbling in Kigali, Rwanda, ahead of the Global AI Summit on Africa, which opens today, promising economic opportunities and innovation. Not least because of last week’s announcement from Cassava…

Policy Watch: Tough road ahead for nature, despite ‘historic’ conservation pact - Media Coverage Eliane Ubalijoro is chief executive officer of the Centre for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), which has 270 active conservation projects around the world. “We can start with a coalition of the willing, and over the next decade, get more people involved to ensure that financing nature is something that all parts of society take a part in,” she says. Her argument: “We can all thrive together if we all invest in nature together.” To speed up delivery of money, the COP16 secretariat is tasked with encouraging a dialogue between environment and finance ministers, something that already happens in the climate space. Brian O’Donnell executive director of the conservation NGO Campaign for Nature, describes it as a key opportunity: “Process alone won't solve it, but it will certainly elevate the issue and have (ministers) recognise the challenge,” he adds. Ubalijoro agrees, and says the question now is “how do we get granular data going out so that the people who need to look at the financial flows from governments, financial flows from the private sector, from an investment world, all help us build a nature positive net zero world.” One positive sign that the financial world has got the message comes in a recent report from investors BlackRock, opens new tab, which acknowledged that more than half of GDP – some $58 trillion – is “moderately or highly dependent on nature.” Ubalijoro, who is based in Nairobi, Kenya, says: “I've been to meetings with the insurance banking community to discuss how are they accounting for nature in their bottom line. So, if we can do this here in Africa, this can be done everywhere in the world.” As the first staging post to filling the $700 billion biodiversity finance gap, developed countries (other than the U.S. which is not a signatory to the convention), agreed to come up with $20bn this year, ramping up towards $30 billion a year by 2030.

"We can all thrive together if we all invest in nature together." - @elianeubalijoro.bsky.social,  CIFOR-ICRAF CEO, speaks to @reuters.com  about financing nature & the urgent task of transforming pledges into action.

Read the full article on the tough road ahead for nature:⤵️

Forests sustain us.

They feed people, nurture ecosystems, and support livelihoods. Yet, forests remain undervalued and under threat.

#ForestsMatter. It’s time to change how we value them—because when forests thrive, people and nature thrive too.

Happy International Day of Forests.

Pulsing with life that sustains us all, forests hold the Earth's memories and humanity’s future in their roots.

On tomorrow’s #ForestsDay and every day, let's all pledge to protect these vital, irreplaceable ecosystems: www.unep.org/topics/forests

Wonderful time hosting @cgiar.org's Director of Legal Affairs, Elise Perset, at @cifor-icraf.bsky.social Nairobi ahead of #CGIARScienceWeek.

We exchanged valuable insights on advancing nature-positive solutions for #TreesPeoplePlanet.

Excited for #CGIARScienceWeek

🔗: bit.ly/4iEVDWO

Where hope is stored: A journey to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault - CIFOR-ICRAF Forests News If you’ve been reading the news lately, you may have found plenty of reasons to despair. The drumbeat of crisis can be paralyzing. But in the icy stillness of Svalbard, I found something different: re...

In this analysis, CIFOR-ICRAF CEO @elianeubalijoro.bsky.social reflects on her journey to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and explains why protecting seed diversity is essential for food security, climate resilience, and sustainable livelihoods.

Read here: ➡️ bit.ly/4hsx7Hr

#TreesPeoplePlanet

Where hope is stored: A journey to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault - CIFOR-ICRAF Forests News If you’ve been reading the news lately, you may have found plenty of reasons to despair. The drumbeat of crisis can be paralyzing. But in the icy stillness of Svalbard, I found something different: re...

What seeds — literal or metaphorical — can you plant today for a better tomorrow? As Maathai once said, “It’s the little things citizens do. That’s what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees.”

Read about my experience at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

bit.ly/3Fykdu5n

Our CEO @elianeubalijoro.bsky.social, is among 12 women recognized by
@reuters.com as Trailblazing women bringing light to the fight against climate change

What gives her hope despite setbacks in climate action?

“Small actions, when multiplied, can transform landscapes & lives.”

reut.rs/3Dpt54O

Women are at the heart of climate action, restoration, & sustainable food systems — but many still face barriers to leadership.

This #InternationalWomensDay, let’s commit to action. Not tomorrow, not someday—now!

A sustainable future depends on the empowerment of all. @elianeubalijoro.bsky.social

From climate activism to conservation, women are driving change for a more sustainable and just world.

This #InternationalWomensDay, meet 8️⃣ trailblazers restoring ecosystems, protecting Indigenous rights and revolutionizing climate action.

Their stories:👉 bit.ly/8Women2025

@globallf.bsky.social

Great discussion with Marjeta Jager, @ec.europa.eu's Deputy DG for International Partnerships, on making nature & climate projects bankable, scalable, and impactful—driving real change for food security, biodiversity, and resilience.

We need to turn ambition into action and investments into impact.

2024 was the hottest year on record. Can 2025 be a turning point?

Despite climate setbacks, @elianeubalijoro.bsky.social highlights key progress at the three Rio Conventions and why forests remain key to cutting global net emissions by 30%.

Read 🔗: t.co/hKuTtd2iYn

#TreesPeoplePlanet

Major deposit in Svalbard Global Seed Vault pushes total for CIFOR-ICRAF beyond one million seeds to safeguard tree biodiversity | CIFOR-ICRAF Longyearbyen, Norway, 25 February 2025 – In a historic milestone at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) deposited 120,00...

In a historic milestone at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, CIFOR-ICRAF deposited 120,000 seeds from 13 native African tree species, including the iconic baobab, bringing its total deposits since 2008 to over 1.1 million seeds from 177 species.

www.cifor-icraf.org/press/press-...

Land - the planet’s carbon sink | United Nations The world’s land — including its mountains, hills, plateaus and plains — provides vital services, such as oxygen, food and water, that are essential for life. Land is also home to much of the world’s…

Land is one of the most important carbon sinks on Earth. Forests, soils, and ecosystems absorb 30% of human-made carbon emissions, helping regulate global temperatures.

But when land is degraded, it releases carbon back into the atmosphere, worsening climate change. #UNited4Land

🌳Sudan Teak (Cordia africana)

This multipurpose marvel was among the tree seeds deposited in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

It provides:
✔ Food
✔ Fodder
✔ Pollination support
✔ Timber
✔ Soil improvement

🔗bit.ly/41kkDwI

What’s it called in your local language?

The International Plant Treaty plays a key role in securing a sustainable future, biodiversity and farmers rights'.

With just five years left, we must act now.

Learn how we're safeguarding seeds for a food-secure future ➡️ bit.ly/4dkk2PO

#ItAllStartsWithTheSeed #4Betters #FoodSecurity

@fao.org

No element is more vital to global food production and essential for human well-being than the diversity of plants, animals, and microbes and their environment.

Learn what @fao.org is doing to protect biodiversity and safeguard our future 👉 bit.ly/3Fkqo1s

#COP16Resumed

More than 100,000 African seeds put in Svalbard vault for safekeeping Seeds of 177 species from across Africa to be stored in Norway to preserve crop diversity in case of disaster

“For me, seeds are about hope,” says @cifor-icraf.bsky.social CEO @elianeubalijoro.bsky.social, as she delivered over 100k African seeds for preservation.

"They’re about moving beyond survival, particularly when you come from places that have gone through really difficult times."

#Trees4Resilience

🌱 It’s Seed Deposit Day

Today, 120,000 tree seeds from 19 native African species from the CIFOR-ICRAF Tree Genebank in Nairobi and field genebanks are being stored in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

With this, CIFOR-ICRAF’s contributions now exceed 1.1 million seeds.

🔗 Learn more: bit.ly/4hzXZWV

What could a remote seed repository carved into a snow-covered Norwegian mountain have to do with native trees growing half a world away in Africa?

As it turns out, quite a lot.

Read how the Svalbard Global Seed Vault supports African land restoration: ➡️ bit.ly/3XdbR1c

#TreesPeoplePlanet |

How can we better integrate climate, food & health policies to protect vulnerable communities?

Today, I opened the #Visibilize4ClimateAction & #PathfinderInitiative forum to address climate change’s impact on nutrition and health.

Proud to collaborate with partners to make these issues visible.