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President Alvarado proposes plan to protect 30% of the planet by 2030
New York, NY, September 23, 2019—Today, on the eve of the United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Summit, President Carlos Alvarado Quesada of Costa Rica, called for the formation of a High Ambition Coalition of nations to push for a Deal for Nature that will protect 30% of the planet by 2030. The goal will be to finalize the deal at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Kunming, China in 2020. The governments of the Seychelles, the UAE, Monaco, Gabon, and Mozambique have joined the initiative.
This urgent push stems from an accelerating awareness that the climate emergency and the extinction crisis are interconnected, and that protecting more nature could be our best chance to both sequester carbon and save threatened species. Scientists have concluded that at least one third of climate solutions lie in protecting and restoring our natural world.
President Alvarado of Costa Rica said:
His Excellency Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment said:
Earlier this year the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services’ (IPBES) Global Assessment found 1,000,000 species are threatened with extinction and called for ‘Transformative changes’ to protect nature. At the same time, top scientists published A Global Deal for Nature as a “companion pact to the Paris Agreement” stating that 30% of Earth needs to be formally protected and an additional 20% designated as climate stabilization areas, by 2030, to stay below 1.5°C.
One of the authors and Explorer in Residence at National Geographic, Enric Sala said:
The proposal is a science based target that seeks to protect 30% of the planet in key biodiversity areas. Ninety countries have already protected more than 17% of their land, 27 have protected more than 30 percent, and a few are close to or even past protecting half of their land. The protected marine surface area has jumped from 0.7 percent of the total ocean in 2000 to about seven percent today—a near ten-fold increase.
Note to editors:The IPBES Global Assessment: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/srccl/https://www.ipbes.net/global-assessment-report-biodiversity-ecosystem-services
The IPCC Land Report: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/srccl/
A Global Deal for Nature: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/4/eaaw2869
Natural Climate Solutions: https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/natural-climate-solutions/
Contact: Kirsten Weymouth National Geographic Society kweymouth@ngs.org +1 703.928.4995
The National Geographic Society is a global nonprofit organization that uses the power of science, exploration, education and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world. Since 1888, National Geographic has pushed the boundaries of exploration, investing in bold people and transformative ideas, providing more than 15,000 grants for work across all seven continents, reaching 3 million students each year through education offerings, and engaging audiences around the globe through signature experiences, stories and content. mmm
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