YEREVAN, Armenia / AfricaWire.IO / – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called for urgent and effective international action to halt environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. He made the appeal at the Leaders’ Summit in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, on Friday, October 16. The summit took place ahead of the 17th United Nations Biodiversity Conference, known as COP17, which runs from October 19 to 30. Guterres warned that more than one million species now face the risk of extinction.
Guterres urged governments to increase investment in solutions that protect ecosystems. He also called for stronger involvement from the private sector and local communities in conservation efforts. The Secretary-General said climate disruption, overgrazing and the excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides are driving a triple planetary crisis. That crisis combines pollution, biodiversity loss and climate change. He warned that it is bringing the planet ever closer to becoming uninhabitable.
Guterres described Yerevan as a moment of accountability halfway to 2030. Countries adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in 2022 with a goal to conserve 30% of the world’s land and sea by the end of the decade. Nearly 90% of parties have since set national biodiversity targets. More than half have also prepared national road maps. However, Guterres said progress remains uneven and far too slow.
Finance gap widens between harm and protection
The Secretary-General highlighted a sharp imbalance in global spending. For every dollar invested in protecting nature, $30 is spent on activities that damage it. He said $7.3 trillion flowed into industries harmful to nature in 2023. Those sectors include heavy industry, destructive agribusiness and fossil fuels. Guterres urged governments to end harmful subsidies and pointed to the UN-backed Cali Fund as a way for companies that benefit from nature to contribute.
Meeting global biodiversity, climate and land restoration goals will require much larger investment. Annual spending on nature-based solutions would need to reach $571 billion by 2030, equal to about 0.5% of global gross domestic product. Biodiversity financing currently stands at less than half of the $200 billion a year agreed under the global framework. Guterres also noted that debt and limited budgets make it harder for developing countries to invest in nature.
Protection targets remain out of reach
Current national commitments fall well short of the 30% target. Even if countries meet their pledges, only 26% of terrestrial ecosystems and 12% of marine ecosystems would be protected by 2030. Since 2022, an additional 1.3 million square kilometres of land and 6 million square kilometres of ocean have gained formal protection. Guterres urged countries to deliver on the 30 by 30 goal and shift from policies that destroy nature to policies that sustain it.
Guterres also called for broader participation from young people, civil society, women, Indigenous Peoples and local communities. He said environmental decline often falls hardest on the most vulnerable. The Secretary-General welcomed the Yerevan Declaration’s commitment to build biodiversity into national policies, budgets and regulations. Delegations now turn to COP17, where countries will assess collective progress toward the 2030 targets. Guterres said there is no time to waste.