Csaba Kőrösi, President of the 77th session of the General Assembly

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Interactive Dialogue among Member States on Harmony with Nature

24 April 2023

(As Delivered)

 

Excellencies,

Distinguished delegates,

Ladies and gentlemen,

As humans, we are latecomers, new tenants of this world.

Tenants with short term leases but with particular responsibilities.

We are born, we live our lives to the best we can, and then we pass.

The one thing that remains to sustain the many waves of humanity, past, present, and emerging is “Mother Earth”. She existed before we appeared, she sustains us, but she does not need us. We need her.

Not to forget, that we are part of nature. It cannot be otherwise.

Nevertheless, we continue to disregard her health, her capacities and sustainability.

Our mainstream attitude has centered on extracting nature’s resources for the fulfillment of the immediate needs of just one or two generations of humans.

Our approach has been based on believing that resources are infinite and growth of consumption is always good. On always looking at growth as pure gain. On misleading ourselves to think that whatever is offered by Earth is free of charge, free of responsibilities to be taken.

We did not look at the side effects, the externalities.

But now we must.

In its recent report, the IPCC stressed that if we do not take immediate action and change our whole way of living, we will perish!

It is high time we acknowledged that infinite growth of the so-called linear economy is not possible in a world of finite resources.

The assumption that there is limitless potential for traditional economic growth encourages unsustainable production and consumption patterns beyond the Earth’s regenerative capacity.

We need to promote a system of ‘Harmony with Nature’ that aims to achieve a just balance among the economic, social, and environmental needs of present and future generations.

We have to re-define growth. It is desirable to increase the total value humanity creates, but that should be achieved through decreased intake of new material resources, through reduced environmental footprint.

We need to invent – or, quite frequently, re-invent – transformative solutions that are rooted in science, conducive to development and sustainable.

Excellencies, on 12 April, I was pleased that many of you joined the Second Informal Briefing on Science-Based Evidence on Sustainable Solutions.

Going beyond Gross Domestic Product, GDP, was the topic of the first panel, the creation of a methodology to measure our progress on sustainability which has been in discussion since the SDGs were created.

That is not to say that GDP isn’t useful. It is.

But we need an all-inclusive system of measurements from when we cut a tree down to when we place the last touches on a new house.

It is unfair to Mother Earth to trumpet our success based only on the gains and profits, without accounting for the destruction it took to achieve them.

Every day when we continue to delay addressing the consequences of our unsustainable patterns, we endanger the environment:

  • 1 million species are now threatened with extinction,
  • in the last five decades alone, 75 per cent of our land has been severely altered,
  • and more than 85 per cent of our wetlands have been lost.

I am sure that any further degradation will just exacerbate the many socioeconomic challenges we have around the world.

 

We should be aware of how fragile our globe is.

 

We have to respect nature’s ecological limits.

 

We are to finally understand the risks our lifestyles pose to the world.

 

We must recognize the interdependence of human and natural systems, and shift away from single-sector approaches.

We must learn how to take responsibility for the global common goods that we use jointly, that we altered jointly, and that can be kept in better health only through a joint, responsible governance. Even if and when the deepening geopolitical divide is not offering the most favorable approach to take shared responsibility.

 

And there are recent examples of how this could be done.

 

Just last month, Member States agreed to the High Seas Treaty, a text for protecting the marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction.

 

This will see for the first time sustainable management of marine resources at all levels in the high seas.

 

With its four goals and 23 targets, the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework sets out an ambitious pathway to reach the global vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050.

 

And, of course, we have the Sustainable Development Goals: our most valuable blueprint of how to establish:

  • peace among humans,
  • peace between humans and nature and
  • prosperity for people and planet.

Gearing up for the SDG Summit in September, I hope it will lead to a “quantum leap” in our efforts to accelerate the implementation of our pledges.

For that to happen, we don’t want to change the Goals. We want not only to change gears. We want to change the game, too.

We must look at where we can unlock new commitments, find new tools, and adopt innovative policies based on scientific inputs.

Moreover, we will have to strengthen the credibility of our collective pledges.

In general, we should demonstrate leadership at this truly critical time.

And we should never forget the saying of the great scientist Carl Sagan: “Preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”

Thank you.