{"id":650636,"date":"2026-10-19T01:28:27","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T01:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/650636\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T01:28:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T01:28:27","slug":"guterres-urges-faster-action-and-financing-to-stop-biodiversity-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/650636\/","title":{"rendered":"Guterres urges faster action and financing to stop biodiversity loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guterres was speaking in Yerevan, Armenia, ahead of the opening of the COP17 UN biodiversity conference<\/a> next week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe food we eat, the water we drink, the very air we breathe \u2013 all are the gifts of biodiversity,\u201d he told<\/a> the Leaders\u2019 Summit. \u201cYet every day, humankind saws another branch off the tree of life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Extinction risk\u00a0<\/p>\n

The UN chief said factors such as climate disruption, overgrazing and excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides \u201care driving the triple planetary crisis of pollution, biodiversity loss and climate chaos\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a result, more than a million species face the risk of extinction, \u201cedging us ever closer towards an uninhabitable world,\u201d he warned, adding that \u201cit doesn\u2019t have to be this way\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Progress falling short\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr. Guterres said the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed four years ago<\/a>, had inspired action worldwide.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nearly 90 per cent of parties have established national biodiversity targets, while more than half have developed national road maps. Since 2022, an additional 1.3 million square kilometres of land and six million square kilometres of ocean have received formal protection.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, \u201cprogress is uneven, and far too slow\u201d, he said. Even if countries fulfil their current commitments, only 26 per cent of terrestrial ecosystems and 12 per cent of marine ecosystems would be protected by 2030 \u2013 \u201cwell short\u201d of the Framework\u2019s goal of conserving 30 per cent of the world\u2019s land and sea by that date.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also highlighted \u201cmajor gaps\u201d in national targets linked to economic systems, including commitments to reduce incentives that harm nature. Finance, technical capacity, cooperation and data collection remain inadequate, he said, noting that biodiversity financing is less than half of the $200 billion agreed under the Framework.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

He stressed that biodiversity cannot be treated separately from conflict, food insecurity, disease threats or climate change. \u201cAddressing any of these crises requires addressing them all,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd there is no time to waste.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Government leadership required\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Secretary-General first called for government leadership, urging countries to meet the \u201c30 by 30\u201d target and \u201cshift from policies that destroy nature, to practices that sustain it\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Priorities include zero-waste and circular economies, sustainable farming, regenerative agriculture, stronger monitoring and transparency and firmer enforcement of existing laws.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

He welcomed the Yerevan Declaration and its commitment to integrate biodiversity into government policies, budgets and regulations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Redirect finance towards nature\u00a0<\/p>\n

His second appeal focused on finance as \u201cthe stark truth is, we are spending money on the wrong things\u201d. He noted that for every dollar invested in protecting nature, $30 is spent on activities that damage it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2023, $7.3 trillion flowed into nature-negative industries,\u201d he said, including polluting heavy industry, destructive agribusiness and fossil fuels.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI urge governments everywhere to end these handouts once and for all, and to use the savings for people and planet instead.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Secretary-General said that meeting global biodiversity, climate and land-restoration goals would require annual investment in nature-based solutions to reach $571 billion by 2030 \u2013 equivalent to about 0.5 per cent of global gross domestic product.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Private sector involvement\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut governments cannot do this alone,\u201d he said, calling for the private sector to step up.\u202fHe pointed to the UN-backed Cali Fund<\/a> as a mechanism through which companies benefiting from nature can help finance its protection.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr. Guterres also cited the rapid growth of renewable energy. The cost of solar power has fallen by almost 90 per cent since 2010 and investment in clean energy is now nearly double investment in fossil fuels. Moreover, renewable energy prevented emissions last year equivalent to the combined emissions of the United States, the European Union and Japan.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut these benefits are not shared equally around the globe,\u201d he said, noting that many developing countries have been unable to invest sufficiently in both nature and human development due to debt burdens, limited public budgets and an inequitable international financial system.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Participation from across society\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Secretary-General\u2019s final appeal was for broad participation, particularly from young people, civil society, women, Indigenous Peoples and local communities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEnvironmental decline often falls hardest on the most vulnerable, and those who did the least to cause the problem.\u202fBut the solutions often arise from these same groups,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With 76 days remaining until he leaves office, Mr. Guterres said that confronting climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution had been among his highest priorities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us act with the urgency this moment demands,\u201d he said. \u201cFor our children. For our future. And for all life on Earth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Guterres was speaking in Yerevan, Armenia, ahead of the opening of the COP17 UN biodiversity conference next week.\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650637,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-650636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}