YEREVAN, Armenia / AfricaWire.IO / – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called for immediate and effective international measures to stop environmental degradation and the decline of biodiversity. He voiced this appeal at the Leaders’ Summit in Yerevan, Armenia, on Friday, October 16. The event took place ahead of the 17th United Nations Biodiversity Conference, known as COP17, scheduled from October 19 to 30. Guterres warned that over one million species now face the threat of extinction.
Guterres emphasized the need for governments to boost investments in solutions that safeguard ecosystems. He also called for increased participation from the private sector and local communities in conservation efforts. The Secretary-General pointed out that climate disruption, overgrazing, and the excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides are fueling a triple planetary crisis. This crisis combines pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change. He warned that it is pushing the planet closer to becoming uninhabitable.
Describing Yerevan as a moment of accountability halfway to 2030, Guterres noted that countries adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in 2022, aiming to conserve 30% of the land and sea worldwide by the end of this decade. Nearly 90% of parties have set national biodiversity targets, and more than half have prepared national road maps. However, he warned that progress remains uneven and too slow.
Growing financial imbalance hampers conservation efforts
The Secretary-General highlighted a significant disparity in global spending. For each dollar invested in protecting nature, $30 is spent on activities that harm it. In 2023, $7.3 trillion flowed into industries damaging to nature, such as heavy industry, destructive agribusiness, and fossil fuels. Guterres urged governments to end harmful subsidies and pointed to the UN-backed Cali Fund as a way for companies benefiting from nature to contribute financially.
Achieving global biodiversity, climate, and land restoration targets will require much larger investments. To meet these goals by 2030, annual spending on nature-based solutions must reach $571 billion, about 0.5% of global gross domestic product. Biodiversity financing currently falls short of the $200 billion per year agreed upon in the global framework. Guterres also pointed out that debt and limited budgets hinder developing countries from investing in nature.
Protection targets are still out of reach
Current national commitments are far from the 30% protection goal. Even if countries meet their pledges, only 26% of terrestrial ecosystems and 12% of marine ecosystems will be protected by 2030. Since 2022, an additional 1.3 million square kilometres of land and 6 million square kilometres of ocean have gained formal protection. Guterres urged nations to fulfill the 30 by 30 objective and shift from policies that destroy nature to those that preserve it.
He also called for broader engagement from young people, civil society, women, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities. He stressed that environmental decline often impacts the most vulnerable hardest. The Secretary-General welcomed the Yerevan Declaration’s commitment to incorporate biodiversity into national policies, budgets, and regulations. Delegates now move to COP17, where progress toward the 2030 targets will be assessed. Guterres emphasized that there is no time to delay.