On Thursday February 18, 2021 UN Secretary-General António Guterres and UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen officially launched a new report, Making Peace with Nature by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The report was released ahead of the fifth UN Environment Assembly in an online press briefing.

In its official communication of the report, UNEP noted that, “this new report is a scientific blueprint to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution emergencies. It 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.

“The report, lays out the gravity of the three environmental crises – climate, biodiversity and pollution – by drawing on global assessments, including those from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, as well as UNEP’s Global Environment Outlook report, the UNEP International Resource Panel, and new findings on the emergence of zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19.” UNEP.

The COVID-19 pandemic and other global crisis have shown that human beings are dependent on nature to thrive and survive and that it’s in our best interest to protect nature.

While speaking at the launch of the report, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, “the global economy has grown fivefold in the past five decades but at massive costs to the environment. Governments are still paying more to exploit nature than to protect it, spending 4 to 6 trillion dollars a year on subsidies that damage the environment. We need to transform how we view and value nature reflecting its true value in all our policies, plans and economic systems.

“The only answer is sustainable development that elevates the wellbeing of both people and nature.

“The report shows that we have the knowledge to live in harmony with nature. Bottom line is that we need to transform how we view and value nature.

Report foreword note by UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

This report provides the bedrock for hope. By bringing together the latest scientific evidence showing the impacts and threats of the climate emergency, the biodiversity crisis and the pollution that kills millions of people every year, it makes clear that our war on nature has left the planet broken. But it also guides us to a safer place by providing a peace plan and a post-war rebuilding programme. By transforming how we view nature, we can recognize its true value. By reflecting this value in policies, plans and economic systems, we can channel investments into activities that restore nature and are rewarded for it. By recognizing nature as an indispensable ally, we can unleash human ingenuity in the service of sustainability and secure our own health and well-being alongside that of the planet.

Read the report: Making Peace with Nature: A Scientific Blueprint to Tackle the Climate, Biodiversity and Pollution Emergencies, by UNEP