EU Statement – UN General Assembly: International Mother Earth Day

Mr. President,

First, the European Union and its Member States express full solidarity with Ukraine and our strongest condemnation of Russia's unprovoked and unjustified military aggression, which grossly violates international law and the UN Charter, and undermines international security and stability.

We are also highly concerned about the harmful impact of this military aggression on the environment. The environmental consequences threaten human lives and health with immediate and long-term effects.

Mr. President,

Human societies always have and always will depend on the services and fundamental value that nature provides.

However, we are all acutely aware of the rapid aggravation of the environmental crisis. Climate change, the loss of biodiversity and pollution are three human-inflicted planetary crises that are interdependent and put the survival and well-being of current and future generations at unprecedented risk.

Our unsustainable relationship with Nature is also pushing the achievement of the SDGs increasingly out of reach.

As underlined in the Secretary-General’s report on Harmony with Nature, our unsustainable consumption and production patterns have severely affected the earth’s carrying capacity.

The EU and its Members States strongly believe in decoupling growth from resource use through Circular Economy models - Actions that address the entire life cycle of products, keep resources in the economy and limit the depletion of natural capital.

We need to work with nature rather than against it. We also believe that nature-based solutions can deliver multiple benefits for nature, people and climate, and make significant contributions to the achievement of many of the SDGs.

To transform our relationship with nature, we need to shift economic systems away from supporting activities that harm the environment (including phasing out environmentally harmful subsidies, divesting from fossil fuels and measures that spur deforestation, biodiversity loss or degradation); to engage in sustainable finance; to measure economic impacts on the environment; and to account for natural capital. We are looking forward to discuss this transformative agenda at Stockholm+50.

Mr President,

We welcome the opportunity to discuss Harmony with Nature and the conservation, protection, restoration and sustainable use of biodiversity today.

The EU and its Members States are committed to reach an ambitious and transformative post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework at the COP 15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

EU priorities have remained unchanged: a package that combines ambitious and measurable goals and targets with strong mechanisms for the monitoring of implementation, and a solid package on financial and non-financial resources.

We are glad to see strong and growing support for the target to protect at least 30% of land and of the global oceans by 2030. We also stress the importance of marine biodiversity and we look forward to the swift conclusion of the BBNJ Agreement and to the upcoming UN Ocean Conference.

We are fully aware of the importance of international financing to developing countries, and recall the announcement by President Von der Leyen doubling our international financing for biodiversity to 7 billion euros until 2027.

But we need a resource mobilization package that goes beyond ODA, increasing resources from all sources, mobilising financial institutions, and aligning all public and private financial flows with biodiversity objectives.

To support the need for capacity building, the European Commission and the UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Center are setting up a Global Biodiversity Knowledge Center. We have also just announced 800 million euros of support to research on Biodiversity.

We need to ensure respect of the rights of indigenous peoples, and the full and effective participation by indigenous peoples and local communities.

We will continue to be actively engaged towards COP 15 and we count on the People's Republic of China, as its host, to bring this process to an ambitious result in 2022.

This is about sustainable development. Because thriving biodiversity ensures access to food, water and energy.

This is about equality. Because nature loss disproportionately affect women and girls, indigenous peoples and persons in vulnerable situations.

This is about our security. Because conflicts explode when more people grapple for diminishing natural resources.

And this is about the interdependence between the health of people, animals and our environment – our 'One Health'.

The EU and its Member States firmly believe that COP15 should send a message of hope and determination to reverse the triple planetary crisis, for a future in which human societies can live in Harmony with Nature.

I thank You, Mr President.