Nature is humanity's best friend.

Without nature, we have nothing. Without nature, we are nothing.

Nature is our life-support system.

It is the source and sustainer of the air we breathe, the food we eat, the energy we use, the jobs and economic activity we count on, the species that enrich human life and the landscapes and waterscapes we call home.

And yet humanity seems hellbent on destruction. We are waging war on nature.

Deforestation and desertification are creating wastelands of once-thriving ecosystems.

Our land, water and air are poisoned by chemicals and pesticides and choked with plastics.

Our addiction to fossil fuels has thrown our climate into chaos — from heatwaves and forest fires, to communities parched by heat and drought, or inundated and destroyed by terrifying floods.

Unsustainable production and consumption are sending emissions skyrocketing, and degrading our land, sea and air.

Today, one-third of all land is degraded, making it harder to feed growing populations.

Plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates — are all at risk.

A million species teeter on the brink.

Ocean degradation is accelerating the destruction of life-sustaining coral reefs and other marine ecosystems — and directly affecting those communities that depend on the oceans for their livelihoods.

Multinational corporations are filling their bank accounts while emptying our world of its natural gifts.

Ecosystems have become playthings of profit.

With our bottomless appetite for unchecked and unequal economic growth, humanity has become a weapon of mass extinction.

We are treating nature like a toilet. And ultimately, we are committing suicide by proxy.

Because the loss of nature and biodiversity comes with a steep human cost.

A cost we measure in lost jobs, hunger, diseases and deaths. In the estimated US$3 trillion in annual losses by 2030 from ecosystem degradation. In higher prices for water, food, and energy. And in the deeply unjust and incalculable losses to the poorest countries, Indigenous populations, women and young people.

Those least responsible for this destruction are always the first to feel the impacts.

We need nothing less than a bold post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

One that beats back the biodiversity apocalypse by urgently tackling its drivers — land and sea-use change, overexploitation of species, climate change, pollution and invasive non-native species.

One that addresses the root causes of this destruction — harmful subsidies, misdirected investment, unsustainable food systems, and wider patterns of consumption and production.

One that supports other global agreements aiming at protecting our planet — from the Paris Agreement on climate, to agreements on land degradation, forests, oceans, chemicals, and pollution that can bring us closer to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

And one with clear targets, benchmarks and accountability.

No excuses. No delays.

Promises made must be promises kept.

It's time to forge a peace pact with nature.

This requires three concrete actions.

First: Governments must develop bold national action plans across all ministries, from finance and food, to energy and infrastructure.

Plans that repurpose subsidies and tax breaks away from nature-destroying activities toward green solutions like renewable energy, plastic reduction, nature-friendly food production and sustainable resource extraction.

Plans that recognize and protect the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities, who have always been the most effective guardians of biodiversity.

And National Biodiversity Finance Plans to help close the finance gap.

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Excerpts from the Secretary-General's remarks at the UN Biodiversity Conference—COP15.