International news

Statement by Dr. Cristiana Pa?ca Palmer, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, at the opening of the Second Meeting of the Sustainable Ocean Initiative Global Dialogue with Regional Seas Organizations and Regional Fishery Bodies on Accelerating Progress Towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 10-13 April 2018

Today on the occasion of World Health Day, it is important to note that human health ultimately depends upon the availability of clean air, fresh water, medicines, food, and fuel sources.

Dr. Cristiana Pasca Palmer, CBD Executive Secretary, said: "These assessments are sobering. They show that the pressures on biodiversity and its associated ecosystem services from human activities, including climate change, are increasing. They show that the status of biodiversity is decreasing. They show that while the world is taking actions, more needs to be done to halt the loss of biodiversity."

Many of the solutions to our global water challenges can be found in nature.

On Saturday 24 March 8:30 p.m. local time, skylines around the world will go dark as millions celebrate WWF's Earth Hour to spark global awareness and action on nature and the environment.

Forests are essential for cities around the world. Forest ecosystems provide water and other critical services on which cities depend.

For this year's International Women's Day, I join my voice to the call to action to empower women in all settings, rural and urban, and to draw inspiration from the activists working to achieve women's rights and gender equality.

Earth Hour, WWF's landmark movement, is set to once again unite millions of people around the world to show their commitment to the planet.

The Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety enters into force today, 5 March 2018.

I want to welcome you to the Subregional Workshop for Arabic Speaking Countries on the Clearing-House Mechanism.