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Statement by Dr Grethel Aguilar, Director General 

International Union for Conservation of Nature (Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥)

Excellencies, Ministers, ladies and gentlemen,

At Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, we call on all Parties and actors to take urgent, informed action to deliver on our promises for a better future.  

This requires the full engagement of all stakeholders. We need all sectors on board, if we are to transform our societies and economies.   

It requires ambitious targets and plans, supported by strong monitoring frameworks, rooted in science and leveraging existing tools to guide our work and measure progress.

It means waking up to the reality that one in three tree species are at risk of extinction, and that we are far from reaching the 30 by 30 target, with only 8.4% of marine areas and 17.6% of terrestrial areas under some form of protection. 

Ladies and gentlemen, while setting commitments is necessary for success, to deliver our agenda we need resources.

We call for true leadership to increase finance from all sources – public-private, blended, domestic and international – to fill our financing gap.

This finance must reach the communities at the front lines of the nature and climate crisis. 

We must also address harmful incentives and redirect investments across our financial system to support nature-positive, carbon neutral economies and promote win-win approaches such as Nature-based Solutions.

We recognise the deep knowledge of Indigenous peoples and local communities, a number of whom have lost their lives to protect the natural environment.  

We must listen to their voices and to those of our youth – the leaders of today and tomorrow – who demand to inherit a thriving planet. 

To deliver anything less than our commitments is to fail them. 

We must work to bridge the biodiversity, climate change and land degradation dialogues at the global level - through joint work programmes, monitoring frameworks and reporting mechanisms – and at the national level – by aligning NBSAPs, NDCs and Land Degradation Neutrality targets.

With our knowledge, data, tools and standards, and our 1,400 Members, 17,000 experts and global Secretariat, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûÏÖ³¡Ö±²¥ stands ready to support all partners willing to make a difference. 

Ladies and gentlemen, may we act now - and unite for nature and people.