YEREVAN, Armenia / AfricaWire.IO / – More than one million species face the risk of extinction as humanity continues to destroy nature, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Friday. Speaking at the Leaders’ Summit in Yerevan, Armenia, on October 16, he called for urgent and effective global action against environmental degradation. The summit preceded the 17th UN Biodiversity Conference, COP17, which Armenia hosts from October 19 to 30. Guterres said the destruction threatens the future of life on Earth.
The Secretary-General urged governments to increase investment in solutions that protect ecosystems and emphasized the need for greater involvement from businesses and local communities. He identified climate disruption, overgrazing, and the excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides as primary drivers of the triple planetary crisis. Pollution, biodiversity decline, and climate change are collectively pushing the planet toward becoming uninhabitable, he stated. However, he also stressed that this outcome is not predetermined.
Four years after the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Guterres highlighted that progress has been inconsistent and too sluggish. The 2022 agreement aimed to conserve 30% of the planet’s land and sea by 2030. Since then, nearly 90% of participating countries have established national biodiversity targets, and over half have developed national road maps. He viewed the Yerevan gathering as a crucial moment for accountability at the midpoint of these efforts.
$30 spent on harm for every $1 on nature
Guterres pointed out a significant imbalance in how global funds are allocated toward nature. For each dollar invested in protecting nature, $30 is spent on activities that harm it. In 2023 alone, $7.3 trillion was channeled into industries detrimental to nature, including heavy industry, destructive agribusiness, and fossil fuels. He called for the permanent removal of such subsidies by governments. Additionally, Guterres highlighted the Cali Fund, which encourages companies benefiting from nature to contribute financially.
The UN Secretary-General emphasized that achieving biodiversity, climate, and land restoration targets will require an annual investment of $571 billion in nature-based solutions by 2030, roughly 0.5% of global gross domestic product. Biodiversity financing remains below half of the $200 billion yearly goal set under the framework. Guterres also pointed out that heavy debt burdens, limited budgets, and an inequitable international financial system hinder developing nations’ capacity to invest in nature.
Current commitments cover only 26% of land
Existing pledges fall short of the 30% conservation goal. If countries meet their current commitments, only 26% of land ecosystems and 12% of marine ecosystems would be protected by 2030. Since 2022, formal protection measures have increased to include an additional 1.3 million square kilometres of land and 6 million square kilometres of ocean. Guterres urged nations to shift from policies that destroy nature to those that sustain it.
He called for broader engagement of youth, civil society, women, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities, recognizing that environmental decline often impacts the most vulnerable populations the hardest. The Secretary-General welcomed the Yerevan Declaration’s pledge to integrate biodiversity considerations into policies, budgets, and regulations. He reiterated that biodiversity is interconnected with conflict, food insecurity, disease, and climate change. The COP17 negotiations are set to commence in Yerevan on October 19.