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Geneva, 19 November 2019: The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) announced today the theme of United Nations World Wildlife Day 2020: “Sustaining all life on Earth”.
The year 2020, known as a “biodiversity super year”, will host several major global events that place biodiversity at the forefront of the global sustainable development agenda. It provides a unique opportunity to deliver transformative progress for the conservation and sustainable use of the species of wild animals and plants in response to global sustainable development challenges that can best be addressed with nature-based solutions.
The theme of World Wildlife Day 2020, “Sustaining all life on earth”, encompasses all wild animal and plant species as a component of biodiversity as well as the livelihoods of people, especially those who live closest to the nature. It also underlines the importance of sustainable use of natural resources in support of the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including Goal 14 (Life Below Water), Goal 15 (Life on Land), Goal 1 (No Poverty) and Goal 12 (Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns).
CITES Secretary-General Ivonne Higuero said: “Wildlife, namely the species of both wild animals and plants for the purpose of World Wildlife Day, is an integral part of the world’s biological diversity which has the greatest resonance with the general public. In the run-up to and on World Wildlife Day 2020 we will raise awareness of the multitude of benefits of wildlife to people, the interlinkages between the various components of biodiversity and the threats they are facing. It is also a good opportunity to call on governments around the world, civil society, private sector and individuals to add their voices and take actions to help conserve wildlife and ensure sustainable use before it’s too late”.
The CITES Secretariat, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and other UN system organizations, Member States, biodiversity-related conventions and civil society, are unrolling a series of global and national events and social media activities around World Wildlife Day 2020, including a high-level event at the UN Headquarters in New York on 3 March, a film festival and international youth art competition.
In line with the UN General Assembly Resolution proclaiming World Wildlife Day, the CITES Secretariat calls on all member States and organizations of the United Nations system and other global, regional and sub-regional organizations, non-governmental organizations and all interested individuals, to:
More information on the values of wildlife as a component of biodiversity, the interlinkage between genetic, species and ecosystem diversity, the various threats facing wildlife, and promotional materials to illustrate the theme will be made available at a later stage on the World Wildlife Day website and social media channels.
#DoOneThingToday to help conserve the world’s biodiversity
On 20 December 2013, at its 68th session, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed 3 March – the day of signature of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973 – as UN World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants.
The UNGA resolution also designated the CITES Secretariat as the facilitator for the global observance of this special day for wildlife on the UN calendar. World Wildlife Day has now become the most important global annual event dedicated to wildlife.
World Wildlife Day will be celebrated in 2020 under the theme "Sustaining all life on Earth", encompassing all wild animal and plant species as key components of the world's biodiversity. This aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals 1, 12, 14 and 15, and their wide-ranging commitments on alleviating poverty, ensuring sustainable use of resources, and on conserving life both on land and below water to halt biodiversity loss.
Earth is home to countless species of fauna and flora – too many to even attempt counting. This rich diversity, and the billions of years during which its myriad elements have interacted, are precisely what has made our planet inhabitable for all living creatures, including humans. Historically, we have depended on the constant interplay and interlinkages between all elements of the biosphere for all our needs: the air we breathe, the food we eat, the energy we use, and the materials we need for all purposes. However, unsustainable human activities and overexploitation of the species and natural resources that make up the habitats and ecosystems of all wildlife are imperiling the world’s biodiversity. Nearly a quarter of all species are presently at risk of going extinct in the coming decades, and their demise would only speed up the disappearance of countless others, putting us in danger as well.
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For 26 Congolese women, this year’s International Women’s Day will be remembered as the beginning of an unprecedented journey towards a livelihood they could never otherwise have imagined – and along the way, educating their husbands, families and future co-workers on equality and empowerment.
UN entities and energy experts have launched substantive preparations for a summit-level meeting on energy in September 2021. Five thematic working groups are meeting virtually to identify roadmaps to achieving SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050. The High-level Dialogue on Energy will be convened by the UN Secretary-General under the auspices of the UN General Assembly.
Pushed off their customary lands and severed from their traditional way of life, Indigenous communities living on roadsides in the tropical forests of Central Africa face perilous conditions. The livelihoods of about 10,000 Baka Pygmies in southeastern Cameroon are in jeopardy, according to a new study in Scientific Reports led by scientists with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), which shows their available hunting area is at risk.
Three years on, the NDC Partnership’s hard work is bearing fruit. Together, we are producing country led plans that offer a pathway to achieving the low-carbon, climate-resilient societies envisaged by the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Across the world, our country members and institutional partners collaborate to cut economy-wide emissions, build sustainable communities, mobilize financial and technical support, and engage civil society.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has joined forces with Pegasus Capital Advisors and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in an innovative bundling of public-private financing to plug a funding gap for sub-national climate initiatives.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is heeding calls to help developing countries bolster their defences against the increasingly damaging effects of climate change, while overcoming COVID-19 fiscal constraints.
On Feb. 23, the United Nations Security Council will meet to discuss the threat that climate change poses to global peace. The question is no longer whether global warming sparks the flames of conflict; it is about where climate shocks are likely to tip already fragile situations into war or civil strife.
The Children and Youth Major Group to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) organized a virtual Youth Environment Assembly to coordinate, mobilize, and build capacity ahead of the fifth UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5). Participation was open to any youth and youth organizations to discuss and identify their broader priorities for environmental action.
The 2021 Desertification and Drought Day to be held on 17 June will focus on turning degraded land into healthy land. Restoring degraded land brings economic resilience, creates jobs, raises incomes and increases food security. It helps biodiversity to recover. It locks away the atmospheric carbon warming the Earth, slowing climate change. It can also lessen the impacts of climate change and underpin a green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Land is the foundation of our societies and is a cornerstone to global food security and environmental health, zero hunger, poverty eradication and affordable energy. It underpins the success of the entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Developmen, and yet this finite resource is under existential threat.
Cambridge, UK: 16th February 2020 - With governments meeting this week to discuss targets and indicators for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, TRAFFIC urges Parties to strengthen global efforts to ensure trade and use of species is legal, at sustainable levels and safe, and effectively measure progress on the implementation of these efforts.
Read: Building back better through the Landscape Agenda; Update on 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People initiative; Join our virtual FAO-EcoAgriculture Partners Independent Dialogue for the UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) on March 30th “Strengthening landscape partnerships”...
World Wildlife Day will be celebrated in 2021 under the theme "Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet", as a way to highlight the central role of forests, forest species and ecosystems services in sustaining the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people globally, and particularly of Indigenous and local communities with historic ties to forested and forest-adjacent areas.
This 2019 Annual Report on Landmark Deforestation Events (LDEs) based on Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) alert tools, the first of its kind, is produced by the Operational Unit for Forest Cover Monitoring (UOSCF), set up by Order No 0086/MINFOF/C2D-PSFE2 of 18 May 2016.
Bonn/ New York, 26 February 2021 – UN Climate Change today published the Initial NDC Synthesis Report, showing nations must redouble efforts and submit stronger, more ambitious national climate action plans in 2021 if they’re to achieve the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise by 2°C—ideally 1.5°C—by the end of the century.
The COP 25 Presidency and the incoming COP 26 Presidency will hold monthly multilateral consultations with Group Chairs and Heads of Delegation covering topics that will be central to COP 26. The monthly multilateral consultations are stepping stones to COP 26: a chance for Parties to move together towards COP 26, identifying and testing solutions to key topics along the way.
Climate shocks such as record high temperatures and a “new normal” of wildfires, floods and droughts, are not only damaging the natural environment, said UN chief António Guterres, but also threatening political, economic and social stability.
Brazzaville, Congo, March 2, 2021 (ECA) - Good quality data and statistics are important for informing development decisions and Africa should not be found wanting as it seeks to meet the global 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and Africa’s Agenda 2063, experts say.
Brazzaville, Congo, March 2, 2021 (ECA) – Before the onset of the deadly novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Africa was recording positive growth rates but not enough to achieve the sustainable development goals, says Economic Commission for Africa’s Bartholomew Armah.
Brazzaville, Congo, March 2nd, 2020 (ECA) - Can African countries still achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030? African growth trajectories and the impact of COVID19 are currently shedding doubts on countries’ ability to reach this objective, unless the region achieves faster growth than before the pandemic in the upcoming years.
Addis Ababa, 2 March 2021, ECA – The Economic commission for Africa (ECA) in collaboration with five other partners is organizing a two-day high-level event on investment facilitation for development for African countries starting on 3 March.
Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) is the management, by communities or smallholders, of forests and agroforests they own, as well as the management of state-owned forests (some of which share customary tenure and rights under traditional laws and practice) by communities.
The second independent verification of the milestones of the Letter of Intent between the DRC and CAFI analysed the level of achievement of intermediate milestones (2018) and progress towards final milestones (2020).
"The Minister does not allocate new forest concessions", reacts the Minister of the Environment who reminds that the law establishing the Forest Code “provides for the procedure to strip a concessionaire of his rights. (Articles 114 to 116).”
Kinshasa, February 11, 2021 – Greenpeace Africa calls on the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, to order the immediate cancellation of four illegal forest concession contracts signed last June 11 by the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Claude Nyamugabo. Greenpeace Africa calls on the public prosecutor to open proceedings.
The first UNEP synthesis report is titled: “Making Peace With Nature: A scientific blueprint to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution emergencies” and is based on evidence from global environmental assessments.
The report flags the interlinkages between our environmental and development challenges and describes the roles of all parts of society in the transformations needed for a sustainable future.
Since 2013, ATIBT has implemented a major program to involve the private sector in FLEGT, REDD+ and certification processes. This program is currently coming to an end after 7 years of implementation in 5 countries.
UN Climate Change News, 1 February – The UN Climate Change Secretariat today announced Regional Climate Weeks in 2021 and 2022, key meetings that will help build regional momentum for the annual UN Climate Change Conferences and drive forward regional implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
The workshop held from 02 to 04 February 2021 comes after the "second CBFP Civil Society Day" organized on 10 December 2020 in Kinshasa with the support of the German CBFP Facilitation.
To inspire and support these actions, the Cool Coalition and the Climate & Clean Air Coalition have developed a brief that outlines shovel-ready strategies, best practices and case studies from around the world.
From 2 to 4 February 2021, the auditorium of the French Institute of Cameroon in Yaoundé hosted the fifth edition of the "COP CHEZ NOUS" organized by the Association Jeunesse Verte du Cameroun (AJVC) which runs the Technical Secretariat of the Central African Youth Network for the Sustainable Management of Forest and Wetland Ecosystems (REJEFAC).
The Policy Council on “Safer, Resilient and Sustainable Cities, Capable of Facing Crises” convened on Thursday, 11 February. The Council is co-chaired by Fatimetou Abdel Malick, President of the Nouakchott Regional Council, Mauritania, Johnny Araya, Mayor of San José, Costa Rica, Co-President of UCLG, and Sami Kanaan, Mayor of Geneva, Switzerland.
A study by the University of Wolverhampton’s Centre for International Development and Training (CIDT), has revealed that global climate goals and livelihoods of forest communities are at risk due to increased illegal logging in the forests of the Congo Basin.
The Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS) 2021 launched the Adaptation Action Agenda 2030 and Decade of Action, establishing practical climate adaptation solutions and plans leading to 2030. The Adaptation Action Agenda 2030, which will guide the Decade of Action towards 2030, joins over 50 partners to establish initiatives aimed at concrete actions and partnerships to increase climate resiliency.