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Spotlight on nature and biodiversity

Nature is humanity’s lifeline. Human health, food, economies and well-being depend on nature. Yet nature is in crisis. One million of the world’s estimated 8 million species of plants and animals are threatened with extinction. Meanwhile, ecosystem degradation is affecting the well-being of 40 per cent of the global population.

The spotlight on nature and biodiversity highlights updates from around the UN System, from partners and others, helping to call attention to the need for a just, prosperous and sustainable future for all.

17 Aug 2023 18:23

Fostering collaboration to address environmental challenges in Africa

A tree at sunset
Photo: Unsplash/Halima Bouchouicha

“It is a great injustice that Africa, which has contributed the least to climate change, is poised to suffer the most.”

UNEP Deputy Executive Director Elizabeth Mrema calls on the global community to provide greater support in tackling the triple planetary crisis at the 19th session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Full speech

16 Aug 2023 16:09

Amid worry for the planet, GEF Assembly to propel bold collaboration for nature

Aerial view photography of green leaf trees
Photo: Unsplash/Spencer Watson

The Seventh Assembly of the Global Environment Facility, which takes place in Vancouver from 22-26 August, will stand out for its focus on the dangers of the present.

Environment leaders from 185 countries are gathering at a time of record-high land and ocean temperatures, out-of-control wildfires, and deadly flooding even in areas unaccustomed to weather extremes: a succession of disasters that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described as heralding the arrival of “an era of global boiling.”

A highlight of the Assembly agenda will be the launch of the new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), which will provide a boost to developing countries’ investments in nature and support Indigenous Peoples and local communities in their pursuit of the ambitious goals agreed to at the Convention on Biological Diversity COP15 in December 2022.

Full story

Related Sustainable Development Goals