The event is the first meeting of international leaders since the historic 'Global Biodiversity Framework' was finalised in Montreal in 2022, where it was agreed to conserve 30% of the planet's lands, waters and seas by 2030 and restore 30% of all degraded ecosystems.
Speaking at the Ministerial High Level Segment late on Tuesday night Irish Time (29th October), Minister Noonan outlined Ireland's progress in meeting the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework since 2022: "Two years ago in Montreal, we – the global community – made important and hard-won promises to protect and restore biodiversity, and to halt its loss. We made them to our citizens, to future generations, to each other, and to the natural world. We did so in the knowledge that our promises were not only vital to the integrity of the web of life, but our first and best line of defence against a climate changed future. Today, I want to outline how Ireland is keeping those promises, and aligning them with our efforts to reduce emissions from land and improve climate resilience.
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"We are rehabilitating over 20,000 hectares of peatland, and planning for an additional 44,000 by 2030, to stop carbon losses and enable sequestration, while creating valuable habitat. We are also bringing nature back to tens of thousands of farms, by working with communities to reward positive outcomes for habitats and species. We have expanded protected areas in our seas and oceans from 2.4% to almost 10%, and we are committed to meeting our target of 30% by 2030.
"We also led on public engagement in biodiversity policymaking: we held a Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, and a parallel Children and Young People's Assembly. The recommendations they made greatly enhanced our National Biodiversity Action Plan, which was recently assessed by the WWF as one of the strongest in the world. Its sister policy, a Water Action Plan to restore freshwater and coastal ecosystems, has just been published. And work is now beginning on our national Nature Restoration Plan, under the Nature Restoration Law. 'Tús maith, leath na hoibre' – in English, "If you start well, you have half the job done". Ireland has a long way to go, but we have started well - and we will keep going."
The Minister also met with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. He reaffirmed Ireland's commitment to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and emphasised the importance of urgent resource mobilisation to unlock global biodiversity action.
He highlighted Ireland's establishment of a €3.15 billion Climate and Nature Fund, and reiterated the importance of investing in the integration of environmental action across nature, water and climate to restore the planet's ecosystems.
