High-level segment continues to develop at COP16 in Colombia

Havana, Oct 30 (RHC) The second day of the high-level segment of the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP16) will take place today at the Pacific Valley Events Centre with the participation of several delegations.

The session is a continuation of the one that began the day before, in which the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, and six other heads of state, including the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, took the floor.

Five foreign ministers, 114 ministers, 33 deputy ministers, 25 high-level representatives and 81 organizations, agencies and non-governmental organizations from 150 countries also took part.

The president of COP16, Susana Muhamad, mentioned that the presence of the heads of state in this forum, in which for the first time a high-level segment is being held, raises the relevance of this type of meeting.

The Peace with Nature Coalition was also presented, a proposal that responds to the Colombian government's call to mobilize citizens to protect biodiversity in the midst of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

Twenty-two countries, 40 global organizations and nearly 80,000 people have already joined the initiative.

"This coalition calls for a profound change in the relationship with nature, and therefore it is not a technical statement, but a political statement, but one that has deep roots," said Muhamad.

Furthermore, he added, it is not a statement that only concerns governments, but a declaration of mobilization of peoples, sectors and all those who feel called to make this political change.

The list of signatories includes Germany, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Austria, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Spain, Estonia, Finland, Honduras, Madagascar, Mexico, Moldova, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Togo, Uganda and Uruguay.

According to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, the defining task of the 21st century will be to make peace with nature.

This, he said, is the spirit of the Global Coalition for Peace with Nature Declaration, a call to action to strengthen national and international efforts to achieve a balanced and harmonious relationship with the environment.

It is a call to recognize the vital knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, farmers and local communities, in other words, a call for life.  (Source: Prensa Latina)