Your Majesty Queen Mary, Queen of Denmark,
Excellencies and Colleagues,
Welcome to the first of three leadership dialogues being held at the seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, or UNEA-7.
These three dialogues on environmental and human health, on the environment and circularity, and on the environment and the global financial system form a critical part of UNEA-7s efforts to deliver sustainable solutions for a resilient planet.
Environmental health. Human health. Economic, business and financial health. These are not separate stories. They are chapters in the book of life, a single tale of humanity and the myriad species we share this planet with. And what is the narrative thread that runs through this tale, the thread that will define how this story continues? It is the health of the natural world.
In dialogue one, we will see that human health and planetary health are inseparable. When ecosystems collapse, health collapses. When biodiversity falters, food security weakens. When the air grows foul, millions die and children get asthma. When climate change intensifies, death, injury and disease spread. Protecting nature protects lives. Every environmental decision that we take is also a health decision.
In dialogue two, we will see that economic, business and planetary health are inseparable. The economy depends on natural resources and on predictable climate conditions. But our current linear models of consumption are eating the planet alive, bite by bite, faster than it can regenerate. Circularity changes everything: it keeps resources in play, reduces waste and regenerates ecosystems. This is not just sustainability. This is smart economics.
In dialogue three, we will see that the financial system and planetary health are also inseparable. Today, trillions of dollars of investments fund the destruction of nature every year. And with no nature, there will be no financial system. Essentially, we can cut the proverbial forest down, or fish the proverbial oceans empty, and have a great quarterly return. And then what? We need capital to flow toward solutions: healthy ecosystems, clean energy, resilient food systems and circular innovation. Transforming finance means transforming the future.
Excellencies, Your Majesty, these dialogues themselves are inseparable. Because this is all one story. And we are here, at these dialogues and at UNEA-7, to write ourselves and this planet a happy ending.
To further set the stage for these Leadership Dialogues, I welcome on stage Her Majesty Queen Mary, Queen of Denmark whom we are privileged to also call UNEPs Patron of Biodiversity to deliver the keynote address.
