YEREVAN, Armenia | United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called on governments, businesses and communities to accelerate efforts to protect nature, warning that more than one million species face extinction as biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution threaten ecosystems and human survival.
Speaking at the Leaders’ Summit ahead of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17) on October 16, 2026, Guterres urged world leaders to demonstrate greater political will, increase the pace of action and strengthen efforts to restore humanity’s relationship with nature.
According to the United Nations, Guterres warned that climate disruption, overgrazing and excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides are intensifying the interconnected crises of biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution. He stressed that the destruction of nature is not inevitable and that stronger action can still prevent further damage.
The UN chief also highlighted humanity’s dependence on biodiversity for food, clean water and breathable air, emphasizing that the deterioration of natural systems threatens livelihoods, food security, public health and economic stability.
The COP17 conference is scheduled for October 19 to 30 in Yerevan, Armenia. According to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the meeting will mark the first global assessment of collective progress toward the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.
The framework includes targets to conserve at least 30 percent of the world’s land and inland waters, as well as 30 percent of coastal and marine areas, by 2030. It also calls for restoring degraded ecosystems and mobilizing greater financial resources for biodiversity protection.
The scale of the crisis was outlined in a landmark 2019 assessment by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which estimated that around one million animal and plant species face extinction, many within decades. The assessment identified land-use change, direct exploitation of organisms, climate change, pollution and invasive alien species as the five major direct drivers of biodiversity loss.
As delegates prepare to assess progress toward the 2030 targets, Guterres’ appeal underscores the urgency of translating international commitments into concrete action to protect ecosystems and the natural resources on which people depend.
Si Venus L Peñaflor ay naging editor-in-chief ng Newsworld, isang lokal na pahayagan ng Laguna. Publisher din siya ng Daystar Gazette at Tutubi News Magazine. Siya ay isa ring pintor at doll face designer ng Ninay Dolls, ang unang Manikang Pilipino. Kasali siya sa DesignCrowd sa rank na #305 sa 640,000 graphic designers sa buong daigdig. Kasama din siya sa unang Local TV Broadcast sa Laguna na Beyond Manila. Aktibong kasapi siya ng San Pablo Jaycees Senate bilang isang JCI Senator.
- Venus L Peñaflor
- Venus L Peñaflor
- Venus L Peñaflor
- Venus L Peñaflor
