UNEP calls for urgent action to conserve, restore biodiversity

NAIROBI, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) on Tuesday called for urgent action in conserving, restoring and using biodiversity sustainably.

Inger Andersen, executive director of the UNEP, said that it was now time for a massive step up to save biodiversity.

"If we do not, biodiversity will continue to buckle under the weight of land and sea use change, overexploitation, climate change, pollution and invasive alien species," Anderson during a virtual launch of the fifth global biodiversity outlook.

She observed that from COVID-19 pandemic to massive wildfires, floods, melting glaciers and unprecedented heat, the failure to meet the Aichi Targets to protect the globe has very real consequences.

Andersen warned that the failure to meet Aichi Biodiversity Targets which were agreed by the global community in 2010 in Nagoya, Japan will further damage human health, economies and societies, with particularly dire impacts on indigenous communities.

She noted that the outlook spells out transitions that can create a society living in harmony with nature through transitions in how to use land and forests, organize agriculture and food supply systems, manage fisheries, use water, manage urban environments and tackle climate change.

"Ecosystem restoration, when implemented effectively and with the support of local populations, has reversed decades of degradation," she observed.

Anderson urged countries to embed ecosystem-based adaptation and nature-based solutions into climate action as they seek to stretch on the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

She revealed that the UN Member States will soon adopt the Post-2020 global biodiversity framework that has ambitious, clear and common targets for a nature-positive world.

The targets, she said, will be broken down and implemented at the national level to enable countries to know whether they are on track to meet the new goals that were set.

She said that the targets require financing, capacity development, transparency and accountability.

"We need buy-in from the sectors and groups -- infrastructure, agriculture, government, business and finance -- that drive biodiversity loss," Andersen added.

She noted that the targets seem to be a tall order but intends to protect nature entirely within humanity's reach.

Anderson further noted that coordinated action has also led to control of deforestation and habitat loss in some regions.

Qu Dongyu, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Director-General, called on all stakeholders to join together in finding a solution to the degraded environment.

"Now is the time for all of us to work together and make contributions together to turn this outlook into an ambition," Qu said.