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 took place before the 17th UN Biodiversity Conference, COP17, which Armenia hosts from October 19 to 30. Guterres emphasized that this destruction threatens the future of life on Earth.
The Secretary-General urged governments to increase investments in solutions that protect ecosystems and encouraged 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 loss, 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 noted progress remains inconsistent and too slow. The 2022 agreement aims to conserve 30% of the planet’s land and sea by 2030. Since then, nearly 90% of parties have set national biodiversity targets, and over half have established national road maps. He described the Yerevan gathering as a moment of accountability at the halfway point of these commitments.
$30 spent on harm for every $1 on nature
Guterres pointed out a significant imbalance in global spending on nature. For every dollar invested in conservation, $30 is allocated to activities that damage ecosystems. In 2023, $7.3 trillion flowed into industries that harm nature, including heavy industry, destructive agriculture, and fossil fuels. He called for the permanent removal of such subsidies and highlighted the Cali Fund, which encourages companies benefiting from nature to contribute.
Achieving biodiversity, climate, and land restoration targets will require an annual investment of $571 billion into nature-based solutions by 2030, roughly 0.5% of global gross domestic product. Biodiversity financing remains below half of the $200 billion yearly target set under the framework. Guterres pointed out that heavy debt burdens, limited budgets, and an unfair international financial system hinder developing countries’ capacity to fund conservation efforts.
Current commitments fall short of protecting 30% of land and sea
Existing pledges are insufficient to meet the 30% conservation goal. If nations fulfill their current commitments, only 26% of land ecosystems and 12% of marine ecosystems will be protected by 2030. Since 2022, formal protection has expanded by 1.3 million square kilometres of land and 6 million square kilometres of ocean. Guterres urged countries to shift from policies that harm nature to those that sustain it.
He also called for broader engagement of youth, civil society, women, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities, emphasizing that environmental degradation disproportionately impacts the most vulnerable. The Yerevan Declaration’s pledge to integrate biodiversity into policies, budgets, and regulations was welcomed by Guterres. He stressed that biodiversity issues are interconnected with conflict, food security, disease, and climate change. The COP17 conference begins in Yerevan on October 19.