UN urges protecting and restoring biodiversity

By Robin Gomes

The United Nations chief is urging governments, businesses and people everywhere to protect and restore the world’s ecosystems that sustains us saying, “Our collective future depends on it.”  “Protecting and restoring ecosystems and ensuring access to ecosystem services are necessary for the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger,” says UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a message for the International Day for Biological Diversity observed on May 22.

 “Reducing deforestation and land degradation and enhancing carbon stocks in forests, drylands, rangelands and croplands are needed for mitigating climate change,” he says in his message which this year has as its theme, “Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity.”  

Biodiversity, as the term signifies, generally refers to the variety and variability of life on earth.

According to Guterres, “protecting the biodiversity of forests and watersheds supports clean and plentiful water supplies.”

It was on December 29, 1993 that the world’s nations agreed on the Convention for Biological Diversity. It has three goals: the global conservation of biodiversity, its sustainable use and the equitable sharing of its benefits.

“Achieving these objectives,” Guterres says, “is integral to meet our goals for sustainable development.”

However, Guterres regrets biodiversity loss continues around the world. 

This year, parties to the Convention will start work on a new action plan to value, conserve, restore and wisely use biodiversity for the benefit of all by 2050.  The UN Secretary-General thus urges the international community to join in this effort.