The EU and leaders from several countries and companies around the world expressed their support at the virtual Nature Finance Forum in New York on Monday 28 September for the science-based target of protecting 30% of the world's land and marine areas by 2030.
European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, the Canadian Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Jonathan Wilkinson, and the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres, made the announcement ahead of the UN Biodiversity Summit, which is expected to draw up the post-2020 global framework to be adopted in 2021 at COP15 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (to be held in Kunming, China).
“I call on all leaders to commit to protecting at least 30% of the planet by 2030. It is a goal that is firmly grounded in scientific evidence. We have already proposed to apply it for the European Union in our 2030 biodiversity strategy (see EUROPE 12491/2). I also call on all government and business leaders to significantly step up investment in nature and biodiversity”, said Frans Timmermans in a video message.
Germany has announced its intention to increase its annual investment of €500 million ($584 million) for protecting biodiversity in low- and middle-income countries.
The UK Minister of the Environment, Zac Godsmith, has also promised to increase spending on nature as part of the doubling of international climate funding to £11.6 billion ($14.8 billion).
Norway's Minister of Climate and the Environment promised to launch a coalition to stop tropical deforestation and has invited other countries to join him. France and Costa Rica are chairing the 'Coalition of Ambition for Nature and People', which will bring together some thirty countries. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)