BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION NO LUXURY, SAYS DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL IN WARNING

WOMEN MINISTERS ABOUT LOOMING ‘SIXTH GLOBAL MASS EXTINCTION OF SPECIES’

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro’s video message to the high-level segment of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 9) meeting of Women Ministers of the Environment in Bonn, today, 29 May:

You gather at a pivotal moment, as the Convention, and indeed all humanity, face critical challenges.  Over the past few years, the Earth has seen a rapid and unprecedented loss of biodiversity.  Humankind is on the eve of the sixth global mass extinction of species.  This is compounded by climate change.

Conserving biodiversity is not a luxury.  All of us -- particularly the poor -- depend on the ability of the world’s ecosystems to provide the full spectrum of goods and services essential to our survival.  This requires us to conserve and manage biodiversity in a sustainable manner.  It is a prerequisite for reaching the Millennium Development Goals, our common vision for building a better world in the twenty-first century.

Women have a special role to play.  They possess knowledge, practices and a capacity for innovation acquired over centuries.  They are at the forefront of protecting life on Earth, and the key to achieving the 2010 biodiversity target to reduce or reverse biodiversity loss.  

I commend the Convention on Biological Diversity for recognizing women as important stakeholders.  Its gender action plan was a landmark -- the first for any multilateral environmental agreement.

Above all, I commend women for responding to the biodiversity crisis, by establishing a network of women ministers of environment.  This creates a unique opportunity for us to make our voices heard.  I fully support the initiative to convene a Ministerial Meeting on Women and Biodiversity in 2010, on the occasion of the International Year of Biodiversity.

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For information media • not an official record