Italy joins the global commitment to protect biodiversity
Environment — di Valentina Neri
Nature will be at the centre of the political agenda. That is the promise of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who spoke at the first UN biodiversity summit.
Italy joins the global commitment to protect biodiversity
Nature will be at the centre of the political agenda. That is the promise of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who spoke at the first UN biodiversity summit.
Italy is among the 75 countries that have signed the Leaders' Pledge for Nature, the document that formalises the commitment to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. "We are in a state of planetary emergency: the crises linked to biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation and climate change, which are interdependent and largely caused by unsustainable production and consumption systems, require urgent and immediate global action," reads the text of the declaration, which sets out a series of priorities. Chief among them is placing environmental issues at the centre of economic recovery programmes in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
A record number of countries took part in the first ever @UN Biodiversity Summit.
Nearly 150 countries, including 72 Heads of State & Government, showed up to build momentum for a transformative #post2020 biodiversity framework.
Via @GlobalGoalsUN
➡️un.org/sustainabledev…
Nearly 150 countries, including 72 Heads of State & Government, showed up to build momentum for a transformative #post2020 biodiversity framework.
Via @GlobalGoalsUN
➡️un.org/sustainabledev…
The announcement came on the occasion of the first United Nations Biodiversity Summit, held on 30 September, on the sidelines of the 75th UN General Assembly. The aim of the summit was to establish a set of common points that will be at the centre of COP 15 on biological diversity, which had been due to take place in October of this year in Kunming, China, but was postponed to November 2021 due to the pandemic.
Giuseppe Conte's words at the UN biodiversity summit
"Before the pandemic, we expected 2020 to be the 'Super Year for Nature', but the dramatic situation we are living through has forced us to postpone the schedule of important international events. Despite this, the postponement also has a positive side, as it opens a window of opportunity to align biodiversity and climate objectives," said Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in his opening remarks. There are two key appointments at which our country will play a leading role. The first in chronological order is the Italian presidency of the G20, from 1 December 2020 to 30 November 2021. In November 2021, COP 26 in Glasgow will take place, organised by the British government in partnership with the Italian government. Specifically, Milan will host Youth for Climate, the first UN world youth summit on climate, and the preparatory conference Pre-COP26.
Today, Italy 🇮🇹 and leaders from all the world 🌍 send a united signal to step up global ambition for biodiversity, and live in harmony with nature 💚
#LeadersPledge4Nature 🌱🌳🦎
#LeadersPledge4Nature 🌱🌳🦎
In the meantime, Conte continued, "Italy is already engaged in multilateral initiatives of primary importance." Such as the EU Biodiversity Strategy, which by 2030 aims to establish protected areas covering at least 30 per cent of land and sea surfaces, as well as increasing the area under organic cultivation, restoring at least 25,000 kilometres of rivers, halving the use and toxicity of pesticides, planting three billion trees and halting the decline of pollinating insects. Furthermore, "Italy is working with Unesco to promote a global network of environmental experts to provide free assistance and strengthen capacity in the management of Unesco-recognised natural areas around the world."
Senza biodiversità la salute del Pianeta è a rischio: non c'è più tempo, occorre cambiare rotta. La presidenza italiana del G20 e la nostra partnership con il Regno Unito per la COP26 nel 2021 muovono in questa direzione: la natura al centro dell’agenda politica. #ForNature
"A scientific and cooperative approach based on global solidarity must guide our efforts to reverse the current situation. Today we must raise the level of our ambitions for the development of a post-2020 global biodiversity framework, ahead of the fifteenth COP on biodiversity," he concluded.
WWF Italy pushes for a "nature positive" target
The words spoken by the Prime Minister are "important words," comments WWF Italy president Donatella Bianchi. She is calling on the leaders who will meet at COP 15 next year to set a "nature positive" target for 2030. This means not only halting the dramatic ongoing loss of biodiversity, which in less than fifty years — from 1970 to 2016 — has seen the population of vertebrates inhabiting the planet shrink by 68 per cent (a figure drawn from the Living Planet Report produced by WWF itself together with the Zoological Society of London). According to WWF, this should be seen merely as a starting point. The curve must be reversed, identifying "concrete and immediate actions" for a "world with more nature."