On Monday 28th September 2020 Ireland and 63 other countries, plus the head of the EU signed the 'Leaders Pledge for Nature', a commitment which will see Ireland take decisive action on nature to protect human and planetary health. This act was taken ahead of the UN Summit on Biodiversity which is taking place in New York, Wednesday 30th September 2020.

Speaking at the launch UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Said 'We need a new Global Biodiversity Framework that addresses the drivers of biodiversity loss and provides a roadmap for implementation.'

'And we need to scale up nature-based solutions like the Great Green Wall across sub-Saharan Africa, which provides natural protection against natural disasters while capturing carbon emissions and creating decent jobs.'

'I commend the ambitious governments participating today that are calling for thirty percent of land and marine resources to be protected by 2030.'

Key commitments in the pledge include:

Taking urgent actions now to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 for sustainable development; including:

The development and full implementation of an ambitious and transformational post-2020 global biodiversity framework to be adopted in Kunming, China, next year;

Transitioning to sustainable patterns of production and consumption and sustainable food systems that meet people’s needs while remaining within planetary boundaries. Including by switching to deforestation-free regenerative agriculture;

Reducing pollution on land and in the air, including eliminating ocean plastic waste;

Sustainably managing our ocean and conclude the negotiations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea;

A green and just response to the current health and economic crisis, integrating a One Health* approach and putting biodiversity, climate and the environment as a whole at the heart of recovery strategies, investments and decisions and actions across the whole of government;

Investing more money in biodiversity and nature-based solutions and also committing to eliminating or repurposing harmful investments and subsidies and aligning financial flows to environmental commitments and the Sustainable Development Goals to achieve the wellbeing of people and safeguard the planet.