Mr. President, Distinguished delegates and leaders. Thank you for recognizing the United States.
Those of us assembled here know – we know beyond a shadow of a doubt – that we are dealing with of a triple threat: the crisis of nature loss, the climate crisis, and the pollution crisis. The two most respected science bodies in the world are telling us what we must do. The grim findings of the 2019 IPBES Global Assessment of Biodiversity were clear: we are losing nature at an unprecedented rate; and this biodiversity is essential for our very existence and survival, and that of future generations.
In addition, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a report on climate change’s “Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.”
It said: “Nature’s resilience…nature’s ability to continue to provide for and to sustain us, depends on the effective and equitable conservation of 30-50 percent the Earth. This includes land, freshwater, and ocean areas worldwide.”
This is what science tells us we must have. Nothing less. It is up to us to respond!
This COP must be a turning point. We must commit to a nature positive, ambitious and transformative Global Biodiversity Framework. And nothing less.
It must include a target of conserving at least 30 percent of global land and waters, and 30 percent of the global ocean by 2030. The entire planet. And nothing less.
Achieving success requires equally ambitious targets on ecosystem connectivity, restoration, and integrity. We must protect the best and restore whatever we can. Nothing less.
Efforts to make 30×30 a reality must start at home. Every country must be willing to do its part to conserve and protect the unique ecosystems within their borders. And I emphasize that for SIDs we understand the difficulty of these land targets – especially as climate change shrinks their land base.
In the U.S. one of President Biden’s first acts when he took office was to commit the United States to conserve at least 30 percent of U.S. land and waters by 2030, an effort we have named “America the Beautiful.” In the U.S. we will do nothing less.
In achieving the vision of America the Beautiful, the United States is taking a whole-of-society approach to conservation. This means that we recognize that Indigenous, rural, and urban communities – alongside, scientists, youth, and historically marginalized groups – must be leaders and partners in achieving this goal.
We urge that the framework must also employ a whole-of-society approach globally, so that everyone – particularly Indigenous peoples and local communities – are engaged in nature conservation, both in planning and implementation. And nothing less.
Gathering the resources required to address our nature crisis will also require a whole-of-society approach: we need to increase resources from domestic budgets, the private sector, international assistance, bilateral and multilateral funds. All sectors can and should contribute. And nothing less because we know that everywhere, a healthy economy is dependent on healthy ecosystems.
The U.S. is doing its part! We are one of the largest funders of biodiversity protection in the world. We’ve doubled our funding for the Global Environment Facility. We’ve increased our spending on biodiversity foreign assistance by 20% in the first two years of the Biden Administration, as well as contributing significant climate-related nature funding.
This COP must result in action. Action to reverse the unprecedented and catastrophic declines we are seeing throughout the natural world. Action to mend our relationship with nature. Action for ourselves, for the other beings we share the planet with, and for future generations to enjoy. It is our turn. This is our time. It is our moral duty. And nothing less.
Original source can be found here.
