Port Moresby: With lush green forests covering nearly 80% of its terrain and more than 5% of the world’s biodiversity thriving on just 1% of the planet’s landmass, Papua New Guinea (PNG) has become a global symbol of ecological stewardship now rewarded with international funding for its trailblazing efforts to safeguard the planet.
At the start of July, PNG achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first small island developing nation and only the second country in the Asia-Pacific after Indonesia to receive a results-based payment for halting deforestation and conserving its forests. The funds come under the United Nations-backed REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) program, which rewards developing nations for preserving their forest ecosystems and cutting down carbon emissions.
Papua New Guinea, a mosaic of over 600 islands and a mainland comparable in size to California, is a global biodiversity jewel. With an astonishing 13,000+ plant species and a forest canopy that shelters thousands of unique animal and insect species, it represents nature at its richest and most fragile. As FAO Senior Forestry Officer Serena Fortuna told Vatican News, “It’s one of the planet’s most biologically intense regions, packed into a small space a precious resource that demands protection.”
Recognizing the responsibility of its ecological wealth, PNG has long advocated for stronger global forest protection. It was, in fact, a co-architect along with Costa Rica of the very REDD+ initiative that now rewards its conservation efforts.
The payment PNG received is more than a symbolic nod it’s a tangible endorsement of the nation’s commitment to forest preservation. Through the Green Climate Fund, an international mechanism for financing climate resilience, PNG demonstrated how it had meaningfully reduced deforestation and protected green cover for future generations.
What sets PNG apart is not just its dense jungles but its determination to unite local communities, Indigenous peoples, and policymakers in a shared ecological mission. REDD+ encourages cross-sectoral collaboration, and PNG’s success shows how inclusive environmental governance works.
One of PNG’s most impressive achievements? Slashing 17 million tons of CO₂ emissions the equivalent of removing cars from 85 billion miles of driving. According to Fortuna, this wasn’t the result of top-down mandates alone but a shared commitment from the entire population. “This victory belongs to everyone to the informed citizens, the traditional communities, the government that listened, and the economy that adjusted course,” she said.
When it became clear that certain large-scale agricultural leases were threatening the environment, the country collectively chose to scrap them favoring sustainability over short-term profit.
In a time when the globe grapples with interlinked crises of biodiversity loss, climate change, and collapsing ecosystems, PNG stands as a shining model. “This is a powerful message to other nations,” Fortuna emphasized. “Papua New Guinea has shown that you don’t have to choose between food security, economic growth, and forest conservation. They can and must go hand in hand.”
More than just an environmental triumph, PNG’s path deeply echoes the principles of Laudato si’, Pope Francis’s landmark encyclical on care for our common home. Fortuna noted that PNG’s conservation journey “perfectly reflects the moral vision Pope Francis laid out.” It’s a real-world response to the Pope’s call not only by cutting emissions but by building a culture of respect for creation, rooted in community participation and ethical action. In PNG, Laudato si’ isn’t just read it’s lived, breathed, and enacted in every leaf preserved and every future secured.