Montreal: On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres criticized multinational corporations for using ecosystems as a "game of profit" and warned that failure to reverse course would have disastrous consequences.
In a speech before the Biodiversity Talks in Montreal, he declared: "With our insatiable appetite for uncontrolled and unequal economic growth, humanity has become a weapon of mass extinction."
Former Portuguese Prime Minister Guterres has made climate change his top priority since taking office in 2017.
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His scathing criticisms at the official opening of the conference, known as COP15, demonstrated how deeply he cares about the plight of the world's endangered plants and animals.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is co-hosting the event with China, was interrupted by a group of about six Indigenous protesters before he could take the stage.
Before leading to scattered cheers, they waved a banner that read "Indigenous genocide = ecocide" and "Stop invading our land to save biodiversity" and chanted for a while.
As you can also see, Canada is a country where people are free to express themselves openly and strongly, and in response, we thank them for sharing their views, Trudeau said.
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The gathering should not be confused with COP27, the previous round of climate-related UN talks earlier this month. To work on a "Paris moment" for nature, nearly 200 nations will come together for a meeting from December 7-19.
One million species are at risk of extinction, a third of all land is severely degraded, and fertile soils are disappearing. Climate change and pollution are also accelerating the erosion of the oceans.
Land, water and air are being strangled by chemical, plastic and air pollution, while the warming of the planet resulting from burning fossil fuels is causing climate chaos including heat waves, wildfires, droughts and floods.
Guterres bluntly said, 'We are treating nature like a toilet.'
And in the end, we are killing ourselves in disguise, he continued, with consequences for jobs, hunger, disease and death. In contrast, it is predicted that starting in 2030, economic losses due to ecosystem degradation will total $3 trillion annually.
Elizabeth Mrima, the head of the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), told AFP that failure was not an option before the talks.
"For the Paris Agreement to be successful, biodiversity must be successful. We must address them jointly because nature and climate must co-exist successfully," he said.
Cornerstone targets of the 10-year framework's draft targets call for protecting 30% of the world's land and water by 2030, ending harmful subsidies to agriculture and fishing, combating invasive species and reducing pesticide use Is.
Indigenous peoples, who manage the land that houses some 80% of Earth's remaining biodiversity, will be heavily involved in the new objective.
Disagreements have already surfaced on the crucial subject of funding, with rich countries being pressured to give more money to the developing world for protection.
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The absence of world leaders has already dashed hopes as only Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be present. China currently holds the presidency of COP15, but will not host the conference due to the COVID pandemic.