YEREVAN, Armenia / AfricaWire.IO / – The United Nations António Guterres has emphasized the need for immediate and effective international measures to halt the ongoing deterioration of the environment and the decline of biodiversity. He expressed this urgent appeal during the Leaders’ Summit held in Yerevan, Armenia, on Friday, October 16. This gathering took place just before the 17th United Nations Biodiversity Conference, known as COP17, scheduled from October 19 to 30. Guterres issued a stark warning that over one million species are now at risk of vanishing entirely.
He called on governments worldwide to boost investments in solutions aimed at safeguarding ecosystems and stressed the importance of increased involvement from the private sector and local communities in conservation initiatives. The Secretary-General pointed out that climate upheaval, overgrazing, and the excessive application of fertilizers and pesticides are fueling a triple planetary crisis—comprising pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change—that pushes the planet closer to becoming uninhabitable.
Guterres characterized Yerevan as a pivotal moment of accountability at the halfway point to 2030. In 2022, nations adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, setting a target to protect 30% of the planet’s land and sea by the end of the decade. Nearly 90% of participating countries have established national biodiversity targets, and over half have developed national road maps. Nonetheless, Guterres highlighted that progress remains uneven and too slow to meet the urgent timelines.
Funding Disparities Between Harm and Conservation Continue to Grow
The UN Secretary-General pointed out a significant imbalance in global financial flows. For every dollar allocated to nature protection, $30 is spent on activities that harm the environment. In 2023, an estimated $7.3 trillion was invested in sectors detrimental to nature, including heavy industry, destructive agriculture, and fossil fuels. Guterres urged governments to eliminate harmful subsidies and highlighted the UN-backed Cali Fund as a potential avenue for companies benefiting from nature to contribute financially.
Achieving global biodiversity, climate, and land restoration targets will demand much larger investments. To meet the 2030 goals, annual spending on nature-based solutions must reach $571 billion, roughly 0.5% of the world’s gross domestic product. Currently, biodiversity financing remains below half of the $200 billion annually agreed upon in the global framework. Guterres also remarked that debt burdens and limited budgets hinder developing countries from investing adequately in nature preservation.
Protection Goals Still Out of Reach
Existing national commitments fall significantly short of the 30% protection target. Even if countries fulfill their pledges, only 26% of terrestrial ecosystems and 12% of marine ecosystems would be safeguarded by 2030. Since 2022, an additional 1.3 million square kilometers of land and 6 million square kilometers of ocean have gained formal protection status. Guterres urged nations to fulfill the 30 by 30 objective and to shift from policies that destroy nature to those that sustain it.
He also called for increased participation from youth, civil society, women, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities, emphasizing that environmental degradation often impacts the most vulnerable populations the hardest. The Secretary-General welcomed the Yerevan Declaration’s commitment to integrating biodiversity into national policies, budgets, and regulations. As delegations now prepare for COP17, where collective progress toward the 2030 targets will be assessed, Guterres stressed that there is no time to delay.