Guterres was speaking in Yerevan, Armenia, ahead of the opening of the COP17 UN biodiversity conference next week.

“The food we eat, the water we drink, the very air we breathe – all are the gifts of biodiversity,” he told the Leaders’ Summit. “Yet every day, humankind saws another branch off the tree of life.”

Extinction risk

The UN chief said factors such as climate disruption, overgrazing and excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides “are driving the triple planetary crisis of pollution, biodiversity loss and climate chaos”.

As a result, more than a million species face the risk of extinction, “edging us ever closer towards an uninhabitable world,” he warned, adding that “it doesn’t have to be this way”.

Progress falling short

Mr. Guterres said the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed four years ago, had inspired action worldwide.

Nearly 90 per cent of parties have established national biodiversity targets, while more than half have developed national road maps. Since 2022, an additional 1.3 million square kilometres of land and six million square kilometres of ocean have received formal protection.

However, “progress is uneven, and far too slow”, he said. Even if countries fulfil their current commitments, only 26 per cent of terrestrial ecosystems and 12 per cent of marine ecosystems would be protected by 2030 – “well short” of the Framework’s goal of conserving 30 per cent of the world’s land and sea by that date.

He also highlighted “major gaps” in national targets linked to economic systems, including commitments to reduce incentives that harm nature. Finance, technical capacity, cooperation and data collection remain inadequate, he said, noting that biodiversity financing is less than half of the $200 billion agreed under the Framework.

He stressed that biodiversity cannot be treated separately from conflict, food insecurity, disease threats or climate change. “Addressing any of these crises requires addressing them all,” he said. “And there is no time to waste.”

Government leadership required

The Secretary-General first called for government leadership, urging countries to meet the “30 by 30” target and “shift from policies that destroy nature, to practices that sustain it”.

Priorities include zero-waste and circular economies, sustainable farming, regenerative agriculture, stronger monitoring and transparency and firmer enforcement of existing laws.

He welcomed the Yerevan Declaration, adopted at the Summit, and its commitment to integrate biodiversity into government policies, budgets and regulations.

Redirect finance towards nature

His second appeal focused on finance as “the stark truth is, we are spending money on the wrong things”. He noted that for every dollar invested in protecting nature, $30 is spent on activities that damage it.

“In 2023, $7.3 trillion flowed into nature-negative industries,” he said, including polluting heavy industry, destructive agribusiness and fossil fuels.

“I urge governments everywhere to end these handouts once and for all, and to use the savings for people and planet instead.”

The Secretary-General said that meeting global biodiversity, climate and land-restoration goals would require annual investment in nature-based solutions to reach $571 billion by 2030 – equivalent to about 0.5 per cent of global gross domestic product.

Private sector involvement

“But governments cannot do this alone,” he said, calling for the private sector to step up. He pointed to the UN-backed Cali Fund as a mechanism through which companies benefiting from nature can help finance its protection.

Mr. Guterres also cited the rapid growth of renewable energy. The cost of solar power has fallen by almost 90 per cent since 2010 and investment in clean energy is now nearly double investment in fossil fuels. Moreover, renewable energy prevented emissions last year equivalent to the combined emissions of the United States, the European Union and Japan.

“But these benefits are not shared equally around the globe,” he said, noting that many developing countries have been unable to invest sufficiently in both nature and human development due to debt burdens, limited public budgets and an inequitable international financial system.

Participation from across society

The Secretary-General’s final appeal was for broad participation, particularly from young people, civil society, women, Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

“Environmental decline often falls hardest on the most vulnerable, and those who did the least to cause the problem. But the solutions often arise from these same groups,” he said.

With 76 days remaining until he leaves office, Mr. Guterres said that confronting climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution had been among his highest priorities.

“Let us act with the urgency this moment demands,” he said. “For our children. For our future. And for all life on Earth.”