Ecological crisis requires concerted global action
MONTREAL | TRADITIONAL, UNCEDED TERRITORY OF THE KANIEN’KEHÁ:KA FIRST NATION — The upcoming UN Biodiversity Conference presents an opportunity for global leaders to unite to halt and reverse nature loss. Today, the Convention on Biodiversity announced that the 15th Conference of the Parties will be held in Montreal in December 2022. Welcoming this news, David Suzuki Foundation director-general for Quebec and Atlantic Canada Sabaa Khan issued this statement:
“We look forward to Canada and Quebec playing a role in hosting and convening this important meeting. The Convention on Biological Diversity, adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, refers to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity as “a common concern of humankind.” Despite three decades of efforts under the convention, the biodiversity crisis persists and poses major threats to well-being worldwide. We are facing ecological crises of unprecedented scale — the persistent decline of biological diversity and the intertwined climate crisis — with a limited window of opportunity to turn the tide.
“This is a defining moment for biodiversity protection as a global collective imperative. In this time of global conflict, nature unites us. We call on global leaders to unite at COP15 around a new vision of international cooperation based on protecting Earth and the life it sustains.”
A key expected outcome of COP15 is the announcement of a “new world agreement to safeguard nature” (i.e., a Global Biodiversity Framework).
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For more information or to request an interview, please contact:
Brendan Glauser, bglauser@davidsuzuki.org, 604-356-8829