PreCOP Biodiversity 2021 statement by UNCCD Executive
Secretary

Secretary General,

Ministers,

Friends and Colleagues

Warmest greetings from the UN Convention to Combat
Desertification.

We are at a critical point in the discussions on the
post-2020 global biodiversity framework. Hence the timeliness of this meeting.

Biodiversity and climate are two sides of the same coin.
Land, a precious and finite resource, binds them. Land links species and
carbon. It sustains life, above and below ground.

Much has already been said. I therefore have a single,
simple message to you:

We need a strong biodiversity framework to ensure the future
we want.

A framework that is anchored in ecosystem management.
Particularly in sustainable land management.

We live in land.

When we degrade land, we erode our soils.

We inhibit our ability to feed ourselves.

We jeopardize the quality of the water we drink. Of the air
we breathe.

When we degrade habitats, we accelerate species loss.

Ecosystem restoration - including land restoration – is a
condition to successful climate and biodiversity action. It is the cornerstone
of any strategy that seeks to restore balance among humans and nature. The
foundation for the achievement of the sustainable development goals.

Let me emphasize: restoring land health has a triple benefit
in terms of real and immediate climate action:

It reduces potent emissions from the land use sector,

Stores carbon in soils and vegetation,

Snd it enhances the resilience of communities and
ecosystems, which in turn benefits biodiversity conservation.

It all comes full circle.

Land restoration is also a relatively quick way to create
jobs to drive a green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and make us less
vulnerable to the next crisis.

I am happy to note that restoration is being given high
prominence in the current draft of the framework that is being discussed by
your negotiators. I am confident that that this will remain the case.

I can assure you that the UNCCD will be an active partner in
supporting you to implement the global biodiversity framework once it is
adopted. And this is where the synergies among the Rio Conventions will be most
noticeable.

A comprehensive, complementary approach to the
implementation of the three Rio Conventions is necessary.

No country will be fulfilling its mandate under one
convention without fully implementing the other two.

The tools to leveraging the synergies between the three
conventions are actually in our hands. Namely:

The biodiversity framework,

The Land Degradation Neutrality targets and the National
Action Plans from UNCCD,

And the nationally determined contributions under the Paris
Agreement.

A land and ecosystems restoration approach will also guide
coordinated action with other processes focused on human health, pollution
abatement, water management, and disaster risk reduction.

Excellencies,

The land is not the solution to all of humanity’s problems.
We still need to fully decarbonize our economies, rethink how we produce and
consume resources and intensively address the loss of species and other
components of their habitats – as we are discussing in the context of this very
meeting.

But if we protect, manage, and restore the land, the
benefits will be immense.

Working together and collaboratively in policy and action,
we can and must unlock these benefits, for people and the planet.

Thank you very much.

https://www.unccd.int/news-events/precop-biodiversity-2021-statement-unccd-executive-secretary