Press Statement on the participation of Guyana in United Nations Summit on Biodiversity. September 30, 2020
His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali on September 30, 2020, delivered a statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China at the virtual Summit on Biodiversity convened by the President of the 75th Session of UN General Assembly. This event was held under the theme “Urgent action on Biodiversity for Sustainable Development” to highlight the need for urgent action at the highest levels in support of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework that contributes to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and will place the global community on a path towards realizing the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity, “Living in harmony with nature”.
H.E. President Ali observed that although we have reached the end of the UN Decade on Biodiversity 2011 – 2020 progress in achieving biodiversity targets including in the SDGs, has been unsatisfactory. Therefore, this Summit should galvanise the necessary political will for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework in line with the 2030 Agenda and energise stakeholders for the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity under the theme “Ecological civilization: building a shared future for all life on Earth.”
Relaying the concerns of the G77, President Ali stated that our development challenges have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact will continue to be felt well into the future. The pandemic is also jarring reminder of the important relationship between people and nature. There must be urgent and significant actions to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt biodiversity loss, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species. The international community must strengthen efforts to counter these trends and protect the ecosystems, on both land and water.
Speaking in his national capacity, President Ali reminded of the important ecosystem services provided by Guyana’s forest and our commitment to low carbon development. Since 1929, Guyana has used our protected areas as models for sustainable livelihoods and living in harmony with nature.
254 South Road & Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown, Guyana In closing, he informed that Guyana has made progress in mainstreaming biodiversity in priority sectors and going forward in accordance with the Low Carbon Development Strategy and 2030 Agenda will ensure the country’s biodiversity is “sustainably utilized, managed and mainstreamed in all sectors, contributing to the advancement of our bio -security, and socio-economic and low carbon development“.