Liberia has unveiled an ambitious vision to transform more than $30 billion in estimated natural capital--including forests, mangroves, biodiversity and renewable-energy potential--into a foundation for sustainable economic growth, climate resilience and peace.

The initiative was placed at the center of Liberia's engagement at the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, where the government convened a high-level discussion on the links between climate change, natural resources, conflict and sustainable development.

Organized by Liberia's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the event brought together senior Liberian officials and international climate and development experts to examine how natural resources can become engines of inclusive development rather than sources of conflict.

For Liberia, the centerpiece was the emerging natural-capital strategy being advanced under President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, with Presidential Envoy on Climate Action and Chief Executive Officer of the Liberian Carbon Market Authority, Hon. Janine Cooper, outlining efforts to measure, value and monetize environmental assets while ensuring communities benefit.

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Cooper said Liberia's natural abundance provides an economic opportunity extending far beyond traditional extraction of timber and minerals.

With more than 5,000 millimeters of annual rainfall, 15 rivers, extensive forests and biodiversity, significant sunshine and a 579-kilometer coastline, Liberia possesses natural assets that can support climate financing, sustainable agriculture, conservation, renewable energy and other emerging economic sectors.

Under the Boakai administration, Cooper said, Liberia is working to bring these resources under an integrated natural-capital framework estimated at more than $30 billion.

The initiative represents a shift in how Liberia presents its environmental assets--not simply as resources to be protected, but as measurable national wealth capable of generating investment, livelihoods and long-term development.

Weeks before the UNGA gathering, the Liberian Carbon Market Authority presented Liberia's first National Carbon Policy to President Boakai after approximately a year of work establishing digital infrastructure and valuation systems to determine the carbon value associated with specific land parcels.

Cooper said Liberia wants to position itself as a supplier of high-integrity, nature-based climate solutions, allowing the country to attract financing while maintaining the environmental integrity of its forests and ecosystems.

But she emphasized that natural capital must translate into tangible benefits for communities.

Her presentation linked the strategy directly to peacebuilding, arguing that environmental investments can prevent local conflicts even before carbon credits or other climate-financing instruments generate revenue.

Mangrove restoration, she explained, can reduce flooding and prevent families from being displaced to areas where competition for land could generate new disputes. Climate-smart agriculture can similarly improve productivity and reduce pressure on farmers to expand into neighboring community forests.

"Peace, in Liberia, is often local before it is national," Cooper said.

Opening the event, EPA Executive Director Dr. Emmanuel K. Urey Yarkpawolo said Liberia's experience of peacebuilding provides an important foundation for addressing environmental pressures that could deepen social and economic tensions.

He warned that climate pressures can exacerbate existing vulnerabilities where institutions are weak and communities are excluded from decisions over natural resources.

Liberia's forests, minerals, rivers, fisheries and coastal ecosystems, he said, can drive national development if managed through strong governance systems and in ways that provide meaningful benefits to communities.

UNDP Associate Administrator Haoliang Xu argued that climate change, peace, development and natural-resource governance are increasingly inseparable.

Xu cited the World Meteorological Organization's confirmation that 2024 was the warmest year on record and said climate impacts are compounding pressures involving displacement, land access and unresolved grievances globally.

He highlighted Liberia's climate commitments, noting that the country contributes approximately 0.03 percent of global emissions but has committed under its NDC 3.0 to cutting economy-wide emissions by 64 percent by 2040, with adaptation targets covering seven sectors.

Xu also noted that peace and security considerations now feature in 41 percent of third-generation national climate plans globally, rising to 70 percent in fragile states.

"Climate change need not be a narrative of conflict and instability," Xu said. "With the right choices, climate action can strengthen livelihoods, improve natural resource governance, and sustain peace."

Kenya's Special Envoy on Climate Change, Ambassador Ali D. Mohamed, described how environmental pressures can contribute to competition over land and water.

With approximately 80 percent of Kenya classified as arid land, Mohamed said conflict between farmers and herders can intensify around rainfall, grazing areas and water availability.

He cited the Dadaab refugee complex, which has existed for more than three decades, as an example of how prolonged humanitarian crises can place sustained pressure on local resources and host communities.

He also highlighted Kigali's use of wetlands as flood-absorbing parks and Nairobi's urban forests as examples of environmental investments supporting resilience and development.

Rep. Naquetta Ricks, President of the African Chamber of Commerce and an advocate for Liberia through the Liberian Surfing Association, urged Liberia to broaden its forest economy.

With more than 40 percent of the country still covered by forests, Ricks said Liberia should move beyond conventional timber concessions and expand community-based activities such as agroforestry, ecotourism and carefully regulated carbon financing.

She also called for stronger oversight of mining and logging and greater community involvement in natural-resource decisions, while urging the Liberian diaspora to contribute technical expertise, investment and accountability.

Daniel Kennedy of Australia's Minderoo Foundation warned of intensifying global climate pressures and argued that nature's economic value must be placed at the center of development planning.

Echoing Minderoo founder Dr. Andrew Forrest's position that "nature is the real economy," Kennedy said philanthropic organizations could increasingly help address financing gaps as traditional development assistance declines, while acknowledging that philanthropy cannot replace government institutions.

For Liberia, the discussions come as the country prepares to assume the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council in December.

The $30 billion natural-capital vision is therefore emerging as part of the Boakai administration's broader economic and diplomatic strategy to demonstrate that forests, biodiversity, carbon resources and other natural assets can become productive national wealth while supporting communities, climate resilience and peace.