United Nations

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for taking urgent measures to halt environmental decline.

In his message to the International Day for Biological Diversity on Wednesday, the top UN official highlighted the dire state of the planet’s ecosystems, emphasising that the world’s complex web of biological diversity sustains all life on earth but is unravelling at alarming speed due to human activities, source reported.

We are contaminating land, oceans, and freshwater with toxic pollution, wrecking landscapes and ecosystems, and disrupting our precious climate with greenhouse gas emissions, Guterres said, stressing the severe consequences of humanity’s footprint on nature.

The degradation of biodiversity is not just an environmental issue but a developmental crisis as well.

Decimating biodiversity damages sustainable development today and creates a dangerous and uncertain tomorrow, he warned. Guterres advocated for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework as a vital instrument to reverse the loss and restore biodiversity.

He noted that this plan not only aims to halt environmental degradation but also promises economic benefits such as job creation, increased resilience and spur sustainable development.

Highlighting the need for widespread participation in conservation efforts, the Secretary-General reminded that we are all ‘Part of the Plan’ and that we all have a role to play. He called on indigenous peoples, businesses, financial institutions, local and regional authorities, civil society, women, young people, and academia to work together in a manner that values, protects, and restores biodiversity benefiting everyone involved.