Over 60 countries back 2030 Biodiversity Protection Pledge ahead of UN Summit

Political leaders from more than 60 countries including Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom came together to commit to protecting biodiversity in a pledge released on Monday.

New York [US], September 29 (ANI/Sputnik): Political leaders from more than 60 countries including Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom came together to commit to protecting biodiversity in a pledge released on Monday. The announcement comes ahead of a summit being convened by the president of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that will discuss "Urgent action on biodiversity for sustainable development."

"We, political leaders participating in the United Nations Summit on Biodiversity, representing 64 countries from all regions and the European Union, have come together today, on 28 September 2020, ahead of the Summit to send a united signal to step up global ambition for biodiversity and to commit to matching our collective ambition for nature, climate and people with the scale of the crisis at hand," the leaders said in a joint statement. In an address earlier on Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Ottawa is committed to protecting 25 per cent of the country's land and ocean by 2025 and 30% by 2030. The prime minister also called on the rest of the world's ten largest countries to join the pledge.

The United Kingdom also committed to protecting 30 per cent of its land by 2030, the Office of Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement. The commitment charts a science-based course to protect ecosystems and biodiversity through international collaboration and work with indigenous peoples, according to the communique. (ANI/Sputnik)

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