GLOBAL LEADERSHIP DIALOGUES Insights and Inspirations from Change Leaders
Fighting for the Future MINISTER VINCENT BIRUTA Since August 2017, Vincent Biruta has served as Rwanda’s minister of environment. Prior to this, he was the minister of natural resources from 2014 and minister of education from 2011. Previous roles include president of the Rwandan Senate; president of the National Transition Assembly; minister of public works, transport and communication; and minister of health. He is a trained physician and completed studies in planning and management of health services in developing countries at the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium. He is also a holder of a post-graduate diploma in public health and nutrition from the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium. He is passionate about the intersection of the environment and the economy to achieve sustainable green growth and socioeconomic transformation. Maria Ivanova, director of the Center for Governance and Sustainability, interviewed Minister Vincent Biruta on December 12, 2017, in Kigali, Rwanda.
Volume 4, Issue 1
CENTER FOR GOVERNANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY JOHN W. McCORMACK GRADUATE SCHOOL OF POLICY AND GLOBAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON www.umb.edu/cgs
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The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer was a great achievement in global environmental governance. Kigali has now become synonymous with advancement in dealing with climate change, and you presided over that achievement. Can you tell us the story of how it came about? These global conferences are organized on a rotational geographic basis and Rwanda was offered to host the 28th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol. But the Kigali Amendment is not really my story and I cannot put this on the list of my own achievements. It just happened that I was chairing the proceedings the day the amendment was adopted. There had been negotiations for at least seven years to get to that point. UMass Boston faculty and students visit the University of Rwanda.
There are many people and governments who worked hard to have the amendment adopted including the US government and Secretary of State John Kerry and Gina McCarthy, who was leading the EPA, and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, who addressed the meeting in Kigali and made a strong call for an ambitious agreement. There was also the Ozone Secretariat at UN Environment that played a critical role.
You are currently the minister of environment, but have held the post of minister in several areas, including health; public works; transport and communications; education; and natural resources. You were the president of the Senate from 2003 until 2011. What led you to choose a career in public service, and what are some of the milestones in your career?
We were very happy to chair the meeting and to have since reached the 20 ratifications needed for the amendment to enter into force in January 2019.
I would not say that I chose a career in public service, in that I did not compete for these positions. I am a medical doctor by training and I worked for the government for 10 years in clinical practice and health services management. Then in 1997, I was appointed minister of health. When I was appointed, I thought I would be in the role for maybe three years, and afterwards I would go back to medical practice or run a private business in the health sector. That was my plan, but history decided differently.
If we implement the amendment, we will avoid up to half a degree Celsius of global warming by 2100 and when we couple that with energy efficiency measures, we will be able to avoid up to one degree Celsius. The Kigali Amendment bears our name, so we are going to do all we can to make sure it is successful. Rwanda is already working
I was then appointed to the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communications, and later elected speaker of the National Transition Assembly until 2003 and then president of the Senate until 2011. After my tenure as president of the Senate, I came back to the executive as minister of education. This was not a path I chose, but rather I served when I was asked. In 1994, the genocide against the Tutsi happened in my country and I was among the few who survived. Afterwards, I gave my contribution to help rebuild the health sector and was later appointed minister. I’m sure there were many other competent people here, but I was privileged to serve in that position and I did my best. Minister Biruta visited several Rwanda Green Fund Investments to assess their progress. 2
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hard to meet, and hopefully beat, the deadline to phase out hydrofluorocarbons. Rwanda has gained prominence in global affairs as a country that is implementing its commitments and has emerged with a successful economy, in spite of enormous difficulties, like the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. How was that value system adopted? What is needed to ensure implementation of the agreement and its success? What role do you see Rwanda playing in global environmental governance more broadly as the country rises in visibility and stature? The common purpose for our country is self-determination. Rwanda emerged from the genocide with a strong sentiment to live and live better. Our goal today is to continue building unity and foster a common purpose to move together in fighting poverty. We know the value of governance and the value of having a country. There are many Rwandans who were deprived of the right to live in their own country. Once you have it, you understand the value of having a country. Now it falls to us to build it, make it strong, and ensure no one is left behind. This is what it means to be inclusive. This is our common purpose for the nation. You also need leadership to drive forward and coordinate that common purpose.
The Rwanda Green Fund investment has resulted in the design and implementation of a national e-waste management strategy and launch of an e-waste recycling plant.
other country. We need to believe that we can reach those standards and to do so we need to work hard and believe that we can end poverty; we can have this sense of value. In Rwanda, we have a word, kwigira, which means selfreliance. It is the belief that we are responsible for our future and must create it ourselves. But first, we need to believe that we can be what we want to be and understand that we need to work for it. We can learn from others, but we should never think that someone else is going to do it for us, to define our future, to define our vision, and to take us there; it must be us.
After the genocide, we were fortunate to have the right leadership in place. The determination to live, to provide a better life for our people, and to strive for dignity has been a result of that leadership. Strong leadership with a clear vision and sense of common purpose is very important and is largely responsible for the progress we have made.
Some countries might lack capacity or resources, but we need to figure out how we are going to build that capacity and mobilize resources. We need to manage the few resources we have properly. We need strategies to mobilize more resources and we need to prioritize and invest in the right sectors. That’s governance, that’s leadership.
When we commit to these international agreements, we do so because they are good for Rwanda and humankind. We are not taking on these commitments just for the sake of it. Our responsibility as a government is to integrate these targets into our national development strategies and ensure they are fully implemented. Rwanda will continue to advocate for international agreements that are good for our people and the planet.
What have been and what are the priorities of the government? Where is the government investing first? What are the priority sectors?
What can other countries learn from Rwanda? What are some lessons that you think are possible to adopt in other settings without the hardship?
After the genocide, everything was a priority: health, education, and infrastructure. We needed to build schools for our kids; we needed a healthcare system that worked for everybody. We needed to provide access to the health services, to education, for all. We understood that we needed to be the ones to rebuild.
We don’t like to give lessons, and actually we don’t have lessons to give, because we still face many challenges. But we do have experience to share. What I could say is that countries – African countries for example – need to understand that when we’re talking about rights and wellbeing, our standards should not be lower than that of any
Once you define a clear vision and the strategies and policies for that vision, mobilization of resources becomes easy. When you prove that you can manage limited 3
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The Akanyaru Watershed Project increases environmental resiliency by preventing soil erosion and landslides.
resources and achieve your targets, you can mobilize even more. Eventually, citizens will have confidence in their government. That’s what is happening in Rwanda. If you go around and ask people about the institutions of this country, they will tell you, “Yes, we have confidence in our president, we have confidence in our security services, we have confidence in our institutions.”
are doing. Transparency is vital in order to receive feedback from people and hear from them and make sure you are moving in step with everyone. Today, Rwanda is building a knowledge-based services economy with the goal to be a developed, climate resilient nation by 2050. To achieve this, we are investing in the health and education of citizens and prioritizing research and technology, green growth, eco-tourism, and high value climate-smart agriculture.
You also need to put in place the implementation mechanisms, the institutions, and the instruments to monitor and evaluate. Once you prove that you can deliver what you promised, you get more support, and keep going. Even when you ask citizens to contribute to the construction of schools, they are ready to do so because they know it is for them. They know that the government is not going to misuse those resources because we report back to the public. You must keep informing citizens about what you
If we take this to the global level, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the newest kind of common purpose for humankind that all governments have adopted. How is Rwanda working on implementing the SDGs? These goals are important for humankind and our work now is to implement them, monitor, and reassess. Eventually we can make adjustments, but they are a good start. Rwanda was proud to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and I am confident we can do the same for the SDGs. In the Ministry of Environment, we have worked hard so that the strategies in our sector are aligned with the SDGs. Today our Sector Strategic Plan, our Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy, our Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement and the SDGs are aligned. Through the overarching National Strategy for Transformation, we make sure that all of these strategies, targets, and indicators are aligned so that when we are implementing the Sector Strategic Plan. We don't need to check on the SDGs or the Nationally Determined Contributions; we are sure they have been mainstreamed. This process gives us confidence that we will reach the targets we have adopted, both at the national and international level.
As part of the 2017 Rwanda Green Growth Week, participants from across the continent visited the Rwanda E-Waste Facility. 4
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In Rwanda, sector working groups ensure there is alignment across ministries and sectors. In the Environment and Natural Resources Sector, we look at the SDGs that are relevant to our sector, their indicators, and compare them to the sector strategies that we have developed to ensure that they are mainstreamed. Sometimes we just need to add a particular indicator. But that is the exercise we gladly undertake because we understand its value and it helps implementation. Let’s discuss Rwanda’s implementation of global environmental conventions. You are doing well and have improved over the past 10 years. What are the pieces of the puzzle that you are putting together to ensure the implementation of the global environmental conventions? Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting in High Density Areas.
You need to have a plan for implementing each of these international conventions. In the Ministry of Environment, we have a focal point for each international convention for which we are the implementing agency. The focal point follows up on the implementation plan, reports, and eventually tells us if support is needed. Everything is monitored and there are reports for each convention we are a party to. We are now working across government to ensure the reporting of our obligations under these agreements is thorough and consistent.
I hope to see students become problem-solvers rather than just graduates. Students are not just responsible for getting a degree. The degree doesn’t have any meaning to me if it doesn’t help you bring value to solving a problem. It is not enough to simply identify the problems in society, you must also propose solutions. I encourage students to work hard and be disciplined. That’s the secret in whatever position you hold. The foremost thing is to love what you are doing and to learn as much as you can. From there, you can give your contribution. Keep working hard, keep disciplined, and stay humble. This is critical for success. Always check yourself and make sure that you are committed to and guided by these values, and eventually you will succeed.
Plastic pollution is a growing global concern, and we are only now starting to understand the scale of the problem. In 2008, Rwanda banned plastic bags. What have been the results of the policy? We took the decision to ban plastic bags once it became clear that they were doing more harm than good. Since then, the ban has had a positive impact on the environment and people’s health. Our drainage systems, lakes, and rivers are no longer clogged by plastic waste. The plastic bag ban has contributed to Rwanda’s vision of being a green and climate resilient nation. It’s also had a positive impact for business. Many companies and cooperatives started manufacturing environment-friendly products from local materials as alternatives to plastic bags. This has provided jobs to Rwandans, especially young people and women, and today these companies are exporting across the region. We are now working on revising the law to end the use of disposable plastics like straws, cups, plates, and other harmful single-use plastics. On a final and personal note, what are your hopes for students? What values do you think we should instill in our young people across the world?
Maria Ivanova with Minister Biruta and Shakilla Umutoni, High Commissioner of Rwanda in Canada, at the 29th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in November 2017. 5
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About This Series Based on in-person interchanges, the stories told in the Global Leadership Dialogues Series offer insights into the professional work and personal experiences of notable professionals in the global governance field. The series provides in-depth perspectives on what these leaders think about key issues in global governance, what inspires them, and how they imagine the future.
Citation Information Please use the following citation for this brief: Global Leadership Dialogues, Volume 4, Issue 1: “Fighting for the Future: Minister Vincent Biruta.” 2018. Center for Governance and Sustainability, University of Massachusetts Boston.
Center for Governance and Sustainability The Center for Governance and Sustainability seeks to bring academic rigor to real-world policy challenges in environment, development, and sustainability governance. It serves as information hub, analyst, and honest broker among scholars, students, and practitioners. Opinions expressed in the Global Leadership Dialogues Series are solely those of the interviewees and do not necessarily represent the views of the Center for Governance and Sustainability or the University of Massachusetts Boston.
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