“We can change the story if we decide to do it,”
he added.
The one-day summit focused on four major
topics: protecting terrestrial and marine
ecosystems; promoting agroecology, a more
sustainable way to grow food; increasing
funding to protect biodiversity; and identifying
links between deforestation and the health of
humans and animals.
The summit also launched a program called
PREZODE which Macron presented as an
unprecedented international initiative to
prevent the emergence of zoonotic diseases
and pandemics, which is already mobilizing
over 400 researchers and experts across the
world. The move comes as scientists suspect
that the coronavirus that first infected people
in China last year came from an animal source,
probably bats.
“Pandemic recovery is our chance to change
course,” U.N. Secretary General Antonio
Guterres said. “With smart policies and the right
investments, we can chart a path that brings
health to all, revives economies, builds resilience
and rescues biodiversity.”
Guterres also stressed that according to the
World Economic Forum, emerging business
opportunities across nature could create 191
million jobs by 2030.
Other leaders at the summit were German
Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson and Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau. China, represented by Vice
Premier Han Zheng, agreed that “collective
efforts” are needed.