The summit on biodiversity at the level of Heads of State and Government, convened by the President of the General Assembly, was held on Wednesday, 30 September 2020, in accordance with the General Assembly resolution 74/269 and decision 74/562. The theme of the summit was “Urgent action on biodiversity for sustainable development”. The summit was also guided by the theme of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations “The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism”.
The summit consisted of an opening segment, a plenary segment for general discussion, two leaders’ dialogues on “Addressing biodiversity loss and mainstreaming biodiversity for sustainable development” and “Harnessing science, technology and innovation, capacity-building, access and benefit-sharing, financing and partnerships for biodiversity”, and a brief closing segment. Two spillover events were organized by the President of the General Assembly to accommodate statements of Member States.
Heads of State and Government, Ministers, intergovernmental organizations, the UN system and stakeholder representatives engaged in the summit via pre-recorded statements, livestream or in-person presentations.
As an initiative of the President of the General Assembly, the summit also provided an online platform “Voices for Nature”, which featured statements, messages and commitments from a wider range of stakeholders.
The summit demonstrated strong commitment and highlighted the need for urgent action at the highest levels in support of a post-2020 global biodiversity framework that contributes to implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and places the Global community on a path towards making a reality of the goal of the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity, “Living in harmony with nature”.