The process of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic offers the chance to change course, and put humanity on a path on
which it is not in conflict with nature, the United Nations Secretary-General said on Monday, urging greater efforts by
everyone to protect biodiversity and step up climate action.
Addressing world leaders at the One Planet Summit, Secretary-General António Guterres outlined the consequences of abusing Earth and its resources.
“We have been poisoning air, land and water – and filling oceans with plastics. Now, nature is striking back:
temperatures are reaching record highs, biodiversity is collapsing, deserts are spreading, [and] fires, floods and
hurricanes are more frequent and extreme,” he said.
“We are extremely fragile”, Mr. Guterres warned.
Combined with the devastating effects of COVID-19 and its socio-economic fallout, the UN chief reminded everyone that “as we rebuild, we cannot revert to the old
normal.”
“Pandemic recovery is our chance to change course. With smart policies and the right investments, we can chart a path
that brings health to all, revives economies and builds resilience and rescues biodiversity”, he highlighted.‘Everyone must do much more’
The Secretary-General noted that innovations and nature-based solutions are especially promising, and that preserving
biodiversity also creates jobs. According to the World Economic Forum, emerging business opportunities across nature
could create 191 million jobs by 2030, he added.
At the same time, with a financing gap of $711 billion per year until 2030 to meet global biodiversity targets, increased and sustained financing will be crucial to transition away from polluting sectors, Mr. Guterres said.
“The time has come to…align public and private financial flows with the Paris Agreement commitments and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and integrate the goal of carbon neutrality into all economic and fiscal decisions.”
The UN chief also urged support for the most vulnerable, who are already suffering the effects of climate change, such
as the least developed countries and small island developing States.Coral Reef Image Bank/Yen-Yi Lee A school of fish gathers off Lang Tengah Island in Malaysia.
‘The sign of hope’
“Everyone must do much more … We begin a new year under the sign of hope. Together, let us seize the opportunity to
build a safer, fairer and more sustainable world,” he added.
Organized by the French Government in partnership with the United Nations and the World Bank, the One Planet Summit
brought together world leaders to commit action to protect and restore bio-diversity. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the event was largely virtual.
Opening the Summit, French President Emmanuel Macron, declared that protecting and restoring biodiversity is “in our
interest”.
Alongside creating millions of jobs between now and 2030, the natural world offers many benefits, he said, adding that
intact forests and ocean ecosystems can help meet climate targets by acting as carbon sinks.‘Nature offers solutions’
“Nature offers solutions for developing sustainable agriculture, for economic and financial services, helping us to
preserve our heritages and cultures”, said the French President.
Mr. Macron outlined four key priorities for action: protecting terrestrial and maritime ecosystems, to allow nature to
regenerate; promoting agro ecology to safeguard environment, strengthen food-security and reduce inequalities;
mobilizing public and private financing, which would support both climate action and protect biodiversity; and reducing
deforestation, especially tropical forests, to protect species and human health.African greening initiative receives $14 billion
Also on Monday, the Great Green Wall for the Sahel and Sahara, an initiative to combat desertification in the vast region, received a pledge of more than
$14.2 billion in new funding over the next 10 years, to restore degrading land, protect biodiversity and strengthen resilience.
According to the UN Convention on Combating Desertification Secretariat (UNCCD), overall, about $33 billion needed by the initiative to achieve its ambitious targets to restore 100 million hectares
of degraded land, the soil capture of around 250 million tons of atmospheric carbon, and creation of some 10 million
green jobs for communities, by 2030.
Mohamed Cheikh El-Ghazouani, President of Mauritania and the Chair of Conference of Heads of State and Government of the
Pan African Agency for the Green Great Wall, welcomed the announcement.
“The mobilization of this additional funding through an innovative approach will certainly contribute to the achievement
of the Great Green Wall goals”, he said.
Since its inception in 2007, the country-led Great Green Wall programme has planted billions of trees and supported tens
of thousands of local households. Its path snakes along the southern margin of Africa’s Sahara Desert running from the
Atlantic coast to the Red Sea.