Recently you’ll likely have seen UNGA 75 being talked about on the news and online. But what is it, why does it matter for nature and why should you care?! We’ve broken down the key things you need to know below.
On this page:
What is UNGA? | Why does it matter for nature? | Why should you care? | How can you get involved?
What is UNGA 75?
Every September, leaders and representatives from 193 countries come together at the United Nations HQ in New York for a week to discuss the big issue facing our planet at a high-level General Assembly debate. UNGA stands for the United Nations General Assembly and this year is the 75th anniversary - hence the 75!
But why are we at WWF making so much noise about this debate? Well, with intense forest fires and COVID-19 dominating 2020, this year’s event has the potential to be a big one for nature as leaders consider how our relationship with the natural world is impacting our lives.
Why is this year's event so important for nature?
Nature has finally made it onto the agenda (we've only been waiting 75 years...), with a whole day dedicated to biodiversity (the rich diversity of life on earth). The talks and events on 30 September will hammer home the fact that biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history and that this is having increasingly negative impacts on people and planet.
This is a real opportunity to get all the countries at the table to recognise that we need to reset and that they must act now if we are to have any chance of halting and reversing this decline.
4 ways UNGA 75 can bring about real change for nature
- High profile - pretty much all world leaders will be in one place (well, Zoom this year!) at the same time, talking about the same things. Without the UNGA this would never happen! 🙌
- Exposure - where the big names go, the media follows, which = big opportunities to get important messages out there and generate greater public awareness. (Plus create a public record of world leader’s commitments so we can hold them to account!) 📺📰
- Face time - there are real opportunities for organisations like us to get face time with world leaders and get them to commit to positive change. As WWF, we’re going to be calling on leaders to help set us on the road to recovery and become #NaturePositive by 2030, safeguarding human and planetary health. 🌲🌈
- Strength in numbers - almost every organisation, charity and influencer who cares about the health of our planet is going to be there making noise at the same time. It’s a real opportunity to come together to collectively push for change. 📣
So, why should you care about UNGA 75?
Our relationship with nature is broken 💔
2020 has proved beyond all doubt that our relationship with nature is broken. It’s clear that we need urgent action to fix things - both for nature and for us.
UNGA provides us with one of the best opportunities we’ve got to re-write the script and put fixing our relationship with nature at the top of the agenda.
Your voice will be amplified 📣
Have you been making lots of noise about climate change, nature loss and the overall poor state of our planet but feel disheartened because no one seems to be listening?
UNGA will see your voice joined by hundreds of thousands of others, including influencers, the world’s media and many of our leaders! Now is the time to shout louder than ever!
Buy-in from the very top 🔝
Millions of us across the world have committed to a life that minimises our impact on nature, whether through changing our diets, trying to reduce our carbon footprint or cleaning up nature in our local areas.
All of these actions are fantastic, but without real commitments from those in power to also do their part we know that seeing nature loss halted and reversed is unlikely to be a reality in our lifetimes.
We need events like UNGA to secure these commitments and effect the real, systemic changes we and our planet so desperately need!
Ready to get involved?
Here's how
Got 30 seconds?
Show your support and be a #VoiceForNature by using our brand new profile-picture frame on Facebook.
Got 1 minute?
Add the hashtag #VoiceForNature to any photo of yourself on Instagram or Twitter.
This will count towards our petition specifically targeting world leaders!
Got 2 minutes?
Call on world leaders to listen to the scientific community, and health and environmental experts around the world by signing our petition.
More than 15,000 like-minded people have already signed - add your name!
