Dubai, United Arab Emirates (9 December 2023) – Ministers from 14 nations, Indigenous leaders, renowned climate scientists, and multilateral funders announced progress on ambitious plans for nature protection as a way to address the twin crises of climate change and global biodiversity loss. The event held on Nature Day was co-hosted by the COP28 Presidency, High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, Campaign for Nature, and the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion and was titled From Agreement to Action: Harnessing 30×30 to Tackle Climate Change. This high-level event showcased the increasing attention that the global biodiversity target to protect at least 30 percent of the planet’s land and ocean by 2030 (“30×30”) is receiving as a critical way to help achieve the world’s climate goals.
Major announcements included China’s joining the High Ambition Coalition for Nature People, which was shared via video by His Excellency Huang Runqiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment, People’s Republic of China, who stated: “Taking this event as an opportunity, I would like to announce that China is now a member of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People.”
Additional key announcements included Dominica’s recent designation of the world’s first marine protected area for sperm whales, Nigeria’s launching of a Ministerial Alliance for Nature Finance, Quebec’s new investment of $144.1 million to accelerate conservation, and the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People’s release of new technical and financial matchmaking tools to support countries develop and implement their plans to significantly increase terrestrial and marine protections and help the world fully achieve 30×30 in the remaining six years.
Leaders at the high-level event stressed that nature conservation, alongside urgent decarbonization, must become a more central component of the world’s strategy to combat climate change. This was underscored by leading scientists who explained that the world’s carbon and climate resilient goals cannot be met without the successful achievement of the 30×30 target.
Across two panels Government officials from member countries of the High Ambition Coalition of Nature and People – an intergovernmental coalition of 118 nations that champion 30×30 – highlighted ways that they are already acting to implement the 30×30 global target. Together, their recent actions showed that fully delivering 30×30 will require protecting the most important areas for biodiversity on land and in the ocean, working ambitiously at the national and subnational level, and ensuring that funding commitments are met, including the imminent target to increase international biodiversity financing to developing countries to at least $20 billion per year by 2025 and significantly increasing direct funding to Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
During her keynote address Rita El Zaghloul, Director of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, said:
“The world showed ambition by agreeing to the 30×30 target. Now we must show ambition by reaching it. Despite some recent progress, the world is not doing nearly enough to reach the ambition of 30×30. To achieve this target, we must dramatically increase the rate of conservation on land and in the ocean.
That is why the HAC is working with our member countries to develop ambitious domestic 30×30 plans and increase the pace and scale of conservation with the urgency that the climate and biodiversity crises require. Today, as one way that we are advancing this work, we are excited to announce new technical support and financial matchmaking tools that we have developed to help countries develop and fulfill their ambitious commitments to 30×30. We look forward to continuing to work with our member countries at all levels of government to show how nature can help achieve the world’s climate and biodiversity goals.”
Closing the event Costa Rica’s Minister of Environment and HAC for Nature and People Co-Chair Franz Tattenbach noted: “The High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People embodies the spirit of unity and ambition necessary to catalyze transformative change. We are very excited to present and share the different tools and the progress of the HAC for Nature and People today and during this COP28.”
— ENDS —
Notes to Editors:
- The event was Moderated by Wanjira Mathai, Kenyan Activist and Environmentalist.
- A selection of quotes and announcements from participants is listed below:
- China’s Minister of Minister of Ecology and Environment: “China will soon release the National Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (2023-2030) (NBSAP). At the same time, under the framework of the Green Belt and Road Initiative and South-South cooperation, China will give full play to the Kunming Biodiversity Fund to provide support for other developing countries to the best of our ability.”
- Nigeria’s Minister of State for Environment Dr. Iziaq Salako: “I am very pleased to announce that Nigeria is launching a Ministerial Alliance for Nature Finance with Liberia, Samoa, and Sierra Leone. As part of the biodiversity-rich countries from the Global South, we are uniting to champion the importance of meeting the biodiversity financing target that the World agreed to last year at COP15. The goal of this Alliance is to promote ambition on biodiversity finance and mutual accountability in delivering the 20 billion USD per year by 2025 – a pledge made to developing countries.”
- France’s Minister for Ecological Transition and Cohesion of the Territories Christophe Béchu: “The High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People is crucial and we are proud to welcome China as a new HAC member here at COP28. Our ambition now is to ensure that it becomes an effective platform for solutions and implementation. We want to use this coalition to propose concrete solutions and share our best practices, between all the members of the HAC. It’s not just on climate change that we need to work faster and harder.”
- Germany’s Minister of the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety of Germany: “For every GBF goal and target, adequate financing is essential for implementation. Germany is leading by example. We will increase our international biodiversity financing as part of climate financing to 1.5 billion euros per year by 2025.”
- Dr Razan Al Mubarak UN Climate Change High-Level Champion: “As we approach the end of COP 28, Nature Day is a unique moment to ensure the inclusion of nature-based solutions in the Global Stocktake. It is clear from the action mobilized here at COP28 and throughout today: that non-state actors are stepping up and demonstrating the desire and the will to change course. And as we will see today, leading governments are also stepping up. We need everyone on board to meet our collective goals.”
- Quebec’s Minister of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks, Mr. Benoit Charette: “Today marks a significant moment in our global biodiversity commitment. As part of our $650 million Nature Plan, I’m proud to share that the Quebec government is investing $144.1 million today to accelerate conservation in southern Quebec, showcasing our commitment to protecting ecological corridors. Québec wants to lead by example with this announcement, emphasizing that to succeed in the fight against climate change, investing in nature is not just an option—it’s an imperative.”
- Deborah Sanchez, Director of CLARIFI: “Modern science is catching up to what our ancestors have known and practiced for centuries. Achieving 30×30 and our climate goals will only be accomplished with the leadership, traditional knowledge, and skills of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant people, and local communities. CLARIFI is providing the necessary infrastructure to get funding from complex donors directly to the people on the ground. It is led by and for our sisters and brothers who are working to protect nature for all of us.”
- Professor Dr. Thomas Crowther: “Scientists have now reached a global consensus that we need nature to achieve one-third of our climate goals. Protecting 30% of our ecosystems by 2030 presents the greatest opportunity for carbon drawdown. This is only possible if we also phase out fossil fuel emissions. We need climate action for nature, and we need nature for climate action.