Photo: Nathan McKinnon
Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape told delegates attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, that there is a need for stronger efforts to sustainably manage the world's natural resources.
Marape was invited to attend the week-long event by WEF's founder Klaus Schwab for his "leadership and insights", according to the prime minister's office. He was one of over 50 heads of state and government who were part of the gathering from 20-24 January under the theme 'Collaborating for the intelligent age'.
Speaking at a side event focusing on financing conservation on the second day of the summit, Marape "highlighted PNG's position as a global leader in biodiversity, tropical rainforest and marine resources", a statement from his office said on Monday.
The statement said Marape also told delegates that PNG hosts up to seven percent of the world's biodiversity, the world's third-largest tropical rainforest (jointly with Indonesia), as well as a substantial part of the world's marine resources, alongside other Pacific nations.
The PNG government has been criticised by local groups, who say they have neglected efforts domestically to implement policies to counter issues such as illegal and unsustainable logging.
"The prime minister has been going out and telling the world and international community, of the importance of the forests, the importance of preserving and conserving the forests. That's good," Act Not campaign manager Eddie Tanago told RNZ Pacific in November last year.
"But the one thing is you must make sure that your background is okay," he said.
However, the Marape told the WEF summit: "We (PNG) hold a lot of stakes in the conversation on conservation."
He said, "people showed respect to PNG today because of what we have in nature in our biodiversity, rainforests and marine resources."