In June 2020 a group of countries launched a new campaign group, the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People, which will lobby governments to agree on a global goal to, among other actions, conserve at least 30% of Earth’s land and oceans by 2030.
The presidents of Colombia, Costa Rica and Switzerland, with ministers from other countries, said in a joint statement on World Environment Day that achieving this goal, as well as preserving wildernesses and biodiversity, is “a crucial step to help prevent future pandemics and public health emergencies, and lay the foundations for a sustainable global economy”.
The coalition said illegal wildlife trade, deforestation and the destruction of ecosystems will likely increase the risk of disease transmission from animals to people – a matter of sudden concern in the wake of Covid-19 – stating: “This pandemic provides unprecedented and powerful proof that nature and people share the same fate and are far more closely linked than most of us realised.”
HAC’s “pillars” on which it wants governments to agree targets and take action are: sustainable management of resources and protection of habitats, supported by a circular economy; spatial targets to protect biodiversity (the 30% target); improved management of existing protected areas; and increased funding from both public and private sources.
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In June 2020 a group of countries launched a new campaign group, the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People, which will lobby governments to agree on a global goal to, among other actions, conserve at least 30% of Earth’s land and oceans by 2030.
The presidents of Colombia, Costa Rica and Switzerland, with ministers from other countries, said in a joint statement on World Environment Day that achieving this goal, as well as preserving wildernesses and biodiversity, is “a crucial step to help prevent future pandemics and public health emergencies, and lay the foundations for a sustainable global economy”.
The coalition said illegal wildlife trade, deforestation and the destruction of ecosystems will likely increase the risk of disease transmission from animals to people – a matter of sudden concern in the wake of Covid-19 – stating: “This pandemic provides unprecedented and powerful proof that nature and people share the same fate and are far more closely linked than most of us realised.”
HAC’s “pillars” on which it wants governments to agree targets and take action are: sustainable management of resources and protection of habitats, supported by a circular economy; spatial targets to protect biodiversity (the 30% target); improved management of existing protected areas; and increased funding from both public and private sources.