Speech by Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera at 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17)

Dear Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres,

Dear colleagues and dear friends of biodiversity,

Thank you for bringing us together in Yerevan and for your very warm welcome at such an important moment for the global biodiversity agenda.

We are all proud of our nature and committed to preserving and restoring it.

This is the moment to take stock, aware that our societies depend on healthy ecosystems and that losing them poses a systemic risk to our societies.

55% of global GDP is highly dependent on nature, with estimated annual losses of US$10 trillion. More than 75% of global food crops rely on pollinators, and their decline directly threatens global food security.

Over half of modern medicines are derived from natural sources. Water is the most precious resource for people, food, and well-being. Around 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions are linked to land use, land-use change, and forestry.

Healthy ecosystems are our strongest and most cost-efficient defence, but they are also the foundation of human prosperity.

So, protecting and restoring biodiversity is an investment in our well-being, in peace, in our future, in our economies and in future generations.

It is about preventing future pandemics and developing new medicines. It is about mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change. It is about ensuring our water and food security. And it is about protecting the natural resources on which every single sector of our economy and our communities rely.

The Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was created to deliver real momentum. Our priority is to turn the ambition we agreed on back in 2022 into delivery.

Since 2024, we have seen significant efforts and major developments, such as the High Seas Treaty, which is key to protecting ocean biodiversity. But we still lack progress on the plastics treaty.

The first global review of implementation is clear: we need to accelerate action if we want to reach the goals we set back in Montreal.