On the eve of a new round of global biodiversity talks, a senior United Nations official said on Sunday that the global community must invest much more and scale up and speed up its pledges to protect nature and prevent extinction of species.
Ministers who are attending virtual meetings this week need to show more ambition towards providing ‘clear political direction’ to the negotiators, who will thrash out a final deal in Kunming in May next year, David Cooper, deputy executive secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity said.
Environmental groups argue that there was no time to waste for protecting habitats and slowing down the extinction rates, particularly after the governments all across the world failed to meet any of the 2020 biodiversity targets, they agreed in Aichi, Japan, 10 years ago.
However, the United Nations urged countries to commit to preserve 30 percent of their land by 2030. This was a goal that the United States and other members of the UN have already agreed to.
Cooper told reporters that it was critical for all the countries to defend more of their ecosystems, although it would not be adequate for addressing the biodiversity loss of the planet. To manage the remaining 70 percent of the land, greater commitments where required from each nation, particularly those nations which contribute majorly to global warming by emitting loads and loads of greenhouse gases.
He stated that the global pandemic has added urgency for biodiversity protection, but he also warned that this was not yet reflected in the post-COVID-19 stimulus measures.
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