Veronika Hunt Safrankova speaks at Global Biodiversity Conservation conference

On the 10^th November, Veronika Hunt Safrankova, Head of the UNEP Brussels Office spoke at the 6th Global Biodiversity Conservation conference, organized by the Czech Coalition for Biodiversity Conservation in a hybrid format from Prague. This event entitled “The world after 2020: from Crisis to Biodiversity Conservation” was an occasion to look back at the year 2020 which organisers have marked as a model “moment for the current biodiversity crisis from a science and nature conservation perspective”. The conference aimed at characterising the specific factors behind the current challenges of the global ecosystem, and to present possible solutions and perspectives for the future.

The Carpathian Convention is a regional example of an instrument halting biodiversity loss in the Carpathian, and contributes to achieving the upcoming global biodiversity targets and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 in the region. Photo by UNEP

Ms Hunt Safrankova was invited to speak in the session on “Insight to biodiversity loss and solutions on a worldwide scale”. Her presentation covered global efforts to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems, such as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), launched in June 2021; negotiations on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, which will guide actions worldwide to 2030, to preserve and protect nature and its essential services to people. Ms Hunt Safrankova opened the intervention by saying that the Earth’s environmental emergencies reinforce one another and are caused by the same underlying drivers, as outlined in UNEP’s Making Peace with Nature report. The presentation was illustrated by selected data and findings from this report highlighting the steep decline in biodiversity loss, as well as the range of solutions nature offers to effectively tackle climate change, reduce the impacts of extreme weather events and provide crucial ecosystem services. She noted the links between climate and nature that featured at COP26 and the commitments in this context declared in Glasgow. In conclusion, biodiversity must be mainstreamed in decision-making processes, as well as increase the amount of adequate investments for nature as part of green and inclusive recovery. Moreover, in order to boost actions towards ecosystem restoration, all stakeholders of society should be involved.