Foreword
by the United Nations Secretary-General
Since early 2020, the world has been upended by a global pandemic indifferent to national borders, ethnicity or social status. COVID-19 has also highlighted the catastrophic consequences that continuous pressure on natural ecosystems can have for human health, livelihoods and economies. The conservation, sustainable use and management of biodiversity and ecosystems is growing more urgent by the day. The 2019 Global Assessment Report1 of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) states that around 25 per cent of species in assessed animal and plant groups are threatened, suggesting that some one million species already face extinction, and also warns that current biodiversity loss is increasingly putting human security and well-being at risk. The goals that have been set for 2030 and beyond for conserving and sustainably using nature and achieving sustainable development will not be achieved under current trajectories. As governments work towards a post-2020 global biodiversity framework, the United Nations system is fully committed to supporting them. This includes promoting policies, investments and actions that are carbon-neutral and protect nature. To that end, we advocate a focus on nature across the whole United Nations system and developing a common approach to integrating biodiversity and nature-based solutions for sustainable development into the organization’s policy and programme planning and delivery. The United Nations system will support transformative actions to promote maintaining and enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem services in key areas, such as food and agriculture, forest management, ecosystems, biosafety, governance and human rights.2 All UN entities will be engaged, including those not traditionally involved in biodiversity work, and an emphasis will be placed on awareness-raising and advocacy. This report by the United Nations Environment Management Group is an important first step in demonstrating the Organization’s commitment to support Member States and stakeholders in making transformative changes. It stresses the need to urgently step up to the challenges of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, which is being exacerbated by climate change, by working together in partnership with Member States, civil society and the private sector, and taking actions that place people, nature and climate at the heart of our sustainable development efforts. I welcome this report and call on the executive heads of United Nations system entities to support the implementation of its recommendations to stem global biodiversity loss. António Guterres
1 https://ipbes.net/global-assessment 2 SG’s Executive Comittee decision of 25 March 2020. ------- 6 -------
