Environment, Forestry and Fisheries on World Environment Day

I would like to acknowledge partners from United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA), Reimagine South Africa, Western Cape Provincial Government, youths and international friends.

We began 2020 as the super year for biodiversity as we were anticipating in a number of global events in the run up to the adoption of a new Post 2020 global biodiversity Framework.

We recognised that the year was special and that it was imperative that we adopt a new global compact that would deliver benefits for nature and people.

The World Environment Day 2020 took this into account hence the relevant and timely theme “It’s Time for Nature”. The theme affirms human beings as part of the ecosystem and therefore intricate with nature. We consider this year’s theme as a call to action to combat the accelerating species loss and degradation of the natural world.

South Africa is a signatory and an active member of the three Rio Conventions, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). We are also a party to numerous biodiversity based multilateral agreements. We honour our obligations through these global instruments and the many programmes that we implement nationally.

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