Cali, October 29, 2024 - In a historic event at the COPs on biodiversity, Colombia today officially launched the Peace with Nature Coalition, an urgent call that has brought together leaders from around the world and mobilized citizens to protect biodiversity in the midst of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
The Coalition was presented to the High-Level Segment that was installed in the Blue Zone, made up of UN Secretary General António Guterres, six heads of state, five foreign ministers, 114 ministers, 33 vice ministers and 24 high-level representatives, as well as 81 organizations and NGOs. For the first time, five presidents from Guinea Bissau, Ecuador, Haiti, Armenia and Suriname participated in this important event.
22 countries, 40 global organizations and more than 80.000 people have already joined the Peace with Nature Coalition, responding to the Colombian Government's call to take action to address the global crisis.
The initiative has gained overwhelming support: in just three days, nearly 80,000 people have joined the Coalition through the Avaaz and change.org platforms. This movement will remain open and active for the next two years, during Colombia's term as president of the COP on biodiversity, consolidating a global effort for the protection of nature and environmental balance.
“This coalition calls to make a profound change in the relationship with nature and therefore it is not a technical declaration, but a political declaration, but one that has a deep root”, said the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Susana Muhamad.
This coalition was formally launched today during the High-Level Segment in the Blue Zone of COP16 and later in the Green Zone with citizens and sectors participating in the People's COP.
Peace With Nature, a declaration of the people
Furthermore, Muhamad explained, this is not a declaration of the governments, but a declaration of the mobilization of the peoples, of the sectors and of all those who feel called to make this political transformation, which also includes the governments that want to sign.
The official launch was made by the Colombian Foreign Minister, Luis Gilberto Murillo, where he emphasized that the coalition represents “an opportunity to build a joint strategy to face the climate crisis, the loss of biodiversity, which seeks to take care of the systems and aims to accelerate the transition to a new green economic model”.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres reaffirmed the UN's commitment to the coalition: “Making Peace with Nature is the defining task of the 21st century. And this is the spirit of today's statement from the Global Coalition for Peace with Nature, a call to action to enhance national and international efforts towards a balanced and harmonious relationship with nature, protecting nature, conserving, restoring, using and sustainably sharing our global biodiversity. A call to recognize the vital knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and afro-descendant peoples, farmers and local communities, a call for life”.
The coalition is a great global mobilization that has raised awareness about the importance of protecting biodiversity, in a joint effort that requires strong actions from the entire government and society.
In an unprecedented move, In an unprecedented move, the Peace with Nature Coalition has elevated the importance of caring for nature to a level unparalleled in the history of biodiversity conferences, underscoring that the commitment to environmental protection and climate justice must be collective and urgent.
Among the list of countries that have joined are Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Austria, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Honduras, Madagascar, Mexico, Moldova, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Togo, Uganda and Uruguay.
Finally, to seal this great mobilization, the launching of this coalition also took place at the Farallones stage of the COP16 Green Zone, where more than 500 people gathered to ratify their support for the care and conservation of biodiversity.