Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity

[ ] 7 As we come to the end of the first 25 years of action under the Convention, the global community has a unique window of opportunity to define the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and to design a New Deal for Humanity and our relationship to nature. We will need bold commitments and determination, multidimensional approaches, and inclusive processes to ensure that such a New Deal will be effective. And the New Deal must safeguard the wellbeing of nature from all relevant angles — policymaking, political, economic, social, scientific, and cultural. I strongly believe that together, as one global community ‘United for Nature’, we can transform the way we relate with biodiversity. We see many positive signs that change is happening — decision-makers in governments, businesses, and communities are increasingly awakening to the fact that nature is the foundation of our societies and our economies. As we move towards the next decades of work under the Convention, let us remember our shared vision, that: “By 2050, biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people.” Together, we can shape a New Deal between humanity and nature and make this a reality as we write history over the next 25 years. Dr. Cristiana Pașca Palmer UN Assistant Secretary-General, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity