The above appeal International Day of Biodiversity calls on governments to fully implement the landmark agreement to halt and reverse nature loss by mid-century, adopted by 196 Member States by 2022.
Protect nature
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework aims to restore ecosystems while creating jobs, building resilience and promoting sustainable development.
Named after the cities in China and Canada where the negotiations took place, it is also known as the Biodiversity Plan.
Specific measures include protecting 30% of the planet’s land, coastal areas and inland waters by 2030.
Unraveling the ‘network’ of biodiversity
In his message to mark International Day, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres warns that the “complex web of biodiversity” that sustains all life on Earth is “unraveling at an alarming rate – and humanity is the cause.”
“We are polluting our land, oceans and freshwater with toxic pollution, destroying landscapes and ecosystems, and disrupting our precious climate with greenhouse gas emissions,” he said. glasses”.
The United Nations’ biodiversity chief, David Cooper, added that many species are increasingly at risk.
One example is amphibians, especially in some tropical regions, where they are facing a combination of land use change, climate change and disease.
Coral reefs are under threat
“Another major category that is really threatened is coral reefs… as climate change interacts with coastal development, overfishing and things like that,” he said. UN News. “We are losing coral reefs due to coral bleaching and other problems related to climate change.”
Many important insect species responsible for pollinating fruits and vegetables could also disappear.
“For animal-pollinated crops, the yield potential, the production potential is one-third less than would be possible due to declines in pollinator numbers and diversity,” he added.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework sets out the roadmap to recovery, and on International Day, the United Nations called on people everywhere to ‘Join the Plan’ by supporting its implementation .
Speaking at the celebration in Nairobi, the head of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Inger Andersen, emphasized that “Biodiversity is not just a word, it is life”.
“And this plan…which the Member States have designed is a plan for life, and therefore implementation That plan is everything,” she speaks.
Immersed in nature
As Mr. Cooper noted, young people were the main supporters of the plan and they played a key role in the negotiations that led to its passage.
Heitor Dellasta of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN), speaking at the event in Nairobi, said along with other vulnerable groups such as children, women, indigenous peoples and diasporas of African descent, they suffer the most from the negative effects of nature loss.
He said the Biodiversity Plan “can move us towards a world that lives in harmony with nature, but only if it is fully implemented, implemented by everyone and leaves no one behind.”
