Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, Deputy Executive Director of the UN Environment
Programme
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, colleagues and friends,
Thank you for giving me an opportunity to address the Third Ecumene Global Financial Forum, which
during the three years’ time became an important international platform for discussing key
issues of long-term sustainable development, harmonization and improvement of the financial
agenda, development of new approaches to implementation of the main objectives of the Paris
Agreement.
Nature loss, climate change and pollution are aspects of the same planetary crisis. They are
profoundly interconnected and reinforcing each other’s impact, and in the past decades due to
our unsustainable consumption and production patterns, they have escalated.
Draughts and water shortages, drastic reduction in fish stocks and loss of forests peatland,
mangrove and coral habitats worldwide are all driving climate change and made more likely by it.
Waste and pollution are poisoning terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Inaction on biodiversity
loss and climate change leads to real-life consequences such as climate, weather events and
economic impacts, such as rising food prices and GDP decline.
The unsustainable use of plants and animals is not just threatening survival of 1 million species
around the world. It also impacts the livelihood of billions of people who rely on wild species
for food, fuel and income.
The more nature we lose, the less opportunity we must mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Expect a decline of 2.7 trillion USD per year of gross domestic product due to nature loss by
2030, disproportionately impacting low-income countries.
There’s a good row of international frameworks: the SDGs, the Paris Agreement, the
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and many others. A key issue of all the times
are the means of their implementation, and this include resource mobilization, finance for
implementation, monitoring and accountability.
Finance is a key question. As with climate and biodiversity. The world already knows many of the
solutions to the challenges facing the planet and humanity: renewables, energy efficiency,
ecosystem restoration, food systems reform and much more. Solutions that can be quickly
implemented to build resilience to climate change. Solutions that can kick start the long-term
systems transformations that will wash us up to the shores of the net-zero, nature positive,
resilient world.
Yet, to be honest, we haven’t put these solutions into practice at the meaningful scale and
speed. We need to look at the positive side of nature conservation. Nature is a source of beauty
and the enjoyment is shared amenity, and we are part of it. Nature is also a source of economic
opportunity. Ecosystems and wild species help regulate the metrological cycles, water resources,
soil fertility and pollination. By investing in nature conservation and restoration we can build
resilient value within our society for the benefit of the people. Scientists are telling us this
is their last chance we cannot go back to business as usual, and this is what the international
frameworks are intended for.
It's about creating the pathway to enable the world to reach their 2050 vision of living in
harmony with nature, with goals and targets for 2030. We should insist on the value of nature
for everyone. Economic, cultural, spiritual. It is the very foundation of our society. This must
be understood from political leaders and businesspeople and to everyone within the society.
I believe the outcomes of the discussions of this Forum will contribute to upcoming milestones
such as the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) and the sixth session of the United
Nations Environment Assembly to be held at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya early next year,
and help to deliver effective and inclusive solutions that can turbocharge the achievements of
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Human right to a clean, healthy and
sustainable environment.
Let me wish you all a very fruitful meeting and look forward to hearing about your deliberations
and receiving the Forum’s outcomes.
Thank you very much.