The diversity of animals, plants and microorganisms on the planet is at risk due to factors such as changing land use, urbanization, overexploitation, pollution and climate change, the UN said on Wednesday, calling for action now to protect a million species from extinction.
The appeal on the International Day for Biological Diversity urges governments to fully implement a landmark agreement to halt and reverse nature loss by mid-century, adopted by 196 Member States in 2022.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework aims to restore ecosystems while creating jobs, building resilience, and spurring sustainable development.
The United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) ended in Montreal, Canada, on 19 December 2022 with a landmark agreement to guide global action on nature through to 2030.
Chaired by China and hosted by Canada, COP 15 resulted in the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
Four overarching goals to be achieved by 2050 focus on ecosystem and species health including to halt human-induced species extinction, the sustainable use of biodiversity and to close the biodiversity finance gap of $700 billion per year.
Among the twenty-three targets to be achieved by 2030 include 30 per cent conservation of land, sea and inland waters, 30 per cent restoration of degraded ecosystems, halving the introduction of invasive species, and a $500 billion/year reduction in harmful subsidies.
In his message to mark the International Day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the “complex web of biodiversity” which sustains all life on Earth is “unravelling at alarming speed – and humanity is to blame.”
“We are contaminating land, oceans, and freshwater with toxic pollution, wrecking landscapes and ecosystems, and disrupting our precious climate with greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.
The UN’s biodiversity chief, David Cooper, added that a whole range of species are increasingly in danger. Many important insect species responsible for pollinating fruits and vegetables could also disappear.
“Already for those animal pollinated crops, the yield potential, the production potential, is a third less than it would be because of declines in the abundance and in the diversity of pollinators,” he added.
