Statement by David Cooper Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity International Mother Earth Day 22 April 2023
Today, this International Mother Earth Day, we reflect on our relationship with and our dependence on nature.
Biodiversity is the heartbeat of Mother Earth – the variety of life on our planet. It is the air we breathe, the water we drink, the soil we walk on, the food we eat, the trees we seek shade under; it is everything. Unfortunately, that heartbeat is becoming faint. Biodiversity is being lost at unprecedented rates. That loss is being accelerated by climate change, and many other human factors, and our future is being threatened. It is time to resuscitate Mother Earth’s heartbeat and work towards the global vision of “Living in harmony with nature” by 2050.
We can get there. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework can put our planet on a path to recovery by halting and reversing biodiversity loss and helping to combat climate change. However, we need to act now in order to see results by 2030.
Some of the Framework’s targets include aims to effectively conserve and manage at least 30% of the world’s lands, waters, coastal areas, and oceans, and to restore, or have under restoration, at least 30% of degraded ecosystems. Indigenous peoples and local communities will be instrumental in achieving these, and all, targets. And in doing so their rights must be respected.
The Framework also addresses the sustainable management of wildlife, controlling invasive alien species and pollution, including from pesticides, and the reduction of harmful subsidies, to name a few.
We have the plan, but now we must move from agreement to action. If we act with urgency and implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at national and sub-national levels, we will start to build back biodiversity and create a sustainable future for humankind.
This day, and every day, I urge you to reflect on your relationship with Mother Earth. Consider what you can do, what your community can do, and what your country can do to mainstream biodiversity and implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
