"Without nature, we have nothing."

“Without nature, we have nothing.”

UN chief sounds alarm at key UN biodiversity event

Author:            United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres

Source:            UN News Centre (https://un.org/news)    

On December 6, 2022, UN Secretary-General António Guterres pulled no punches as he opened the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UN Biodiversity Conference – COP15).  He opened his speech with three simple statements: “Nature is humanity’s best friend.  Without nature, we have nothing.  Without nature, we are nothing.”  “And yet,” he continued, “humanity seems hell-bent on destruction. We are waging war in nature.”

This is a brief read and a must read – both for Guterres’ eloquence and for the three concrete actions which he says are required “to forge a peace pact with nature.”

To read the full speech, click on Download Resource File.