– As delivered –
Remarks by H.E. Mr. Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly
21 May 2021
His Excellency, Mr. Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you for the opportunity to join today’s discussion.
I would like to commend Ambassador Zhang Jun, the Government of the People’s Republic of China, and the like-minded group for maintaining political momentum on the ‘road to Kunming’. Building on last year’s Biodiversity Summit and the launch of the Leader’s Pledge for Nature, and with efforts underway on a post-2020 global biodiversity framework, we have a very real opportunity to ‘bend the curve’ on nature. I thank Member States for their continued support.
Dear colleagues, I will be brief: we have before us an unprecedented opportunity to make meaningful progress on biodiversity. Through recovery from COVID-19 and the incredible resources that are being untapped, as well as upcoming COP-level summits on climate, biodiversity, and land degradation, we have both the resource and policy spaces to push this agenda forward.
First, COVID-19, for all its tragedies, has also unlocked the largest socio-economic recovery in our history. This coupled with incredible public support for transformational change and resilience allow us a rare opportunity to invest in nature-based solutions and ensure that our recovery is nature friendly. The theme of this year’s international day for biodiversity is ‘we are all part of the solution’. And this principle must also be applied to our recovery from COVID-19. If we funnel capacities and resources to projects that boost economic growth, and jobs and livelihoods, while simultaneously protecting biodiversity and nature as a whole, then we will not only be recovering, but investing in our future.
Doing this, however, requires that we make deliberate efforts to unlock innovative financing and governance mechanisms; that we prioritize local-national-international partnerships to allow for capacity and resource sharing; and, above all else, that we account for the value of nature in our decision making processes.
Dear colleagues, on this last point, I would emphasize that we must move beyond a scenario where the value of a tree is only counted once it has been felled and turned into lumber; we must appreciate the tree for its value in the Earth, as example of, and home to, biodiversity, and as natural carbon sink.
My second point refers to the multiple multilateral processes currently underway. With discussions ongoing on three of the Rio Conventions, there is an opportunity to demonstrate the interlinkages across the environmental sphere, as well as its role within the larger development agenda, and to ensure that all these efforts are mutually reinforcing.
We all know that we need trees to maintain the quality of our water, land and air; that we need land and water for food; that we need biodiversity for both water and land preservation; and that all of this ties back directly to jobs, livelihoods and our own well-being. Surely, knowing all of this, we can ensure that progress across each of the Rio Conventions, as well as on the Sustainable Development Goals, support one another. Because if we are able to do this, and if we can capitalize on the resources allocated for recovery, we have a recipe for true, transformational change.
Dear colleagues, the message is clear: if we are to meet the sustainable development goals by 2030, we need to integrate nature restoration to our efforts to build back better, prioritizing a Green Recovery from COVID-19, and preventing any further losses of our natural capital.
With that in mind, I ask that you be ambitious during post-2020 global biodiversity framework discussions; that you raise the bar on renewed Nationally Determined Contributions and climate targets; and that you take steps to protect against land degradation, recognizing that healthy soil is essential for a healthy planet.
I thank you very much
