The CBD Executive Secretary’s statement on World Environment Day 2026

Statement by the CBD Executive Secretary, Astrid Schomaker, on World Environment Day 2026

This year, World Environment Day invites us to listen to the planet’s signals and act on them.

These signals are unequivocal: bold action is urgently needed to stabilize Earth’s climate system. Adaptation must also be deployed at scale to protect those vulnerable to irreversible impacts.

Thanks to science we have been able to read another signal: climate change and biodiversity loss are interacting and mutually reinforcing.

Climate change is one of the major drivers of biodiversity loss. Nature, on the other hand, is one of humanity’s greatest allies in mitigating climate change and bolstering resilience against its impacts.

This means that global climate goals and the targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework must be pursued in tandem.

Solutions exist and are being scaled, including fast-evolving clean energy technology, nature-based solutions, and policy coherence driven by synergies. We must find and amplify what is working, and move faster.

In October 2024 Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted a landmark decision recognizing the synergies that can be seized by acting on the biodiversity-climate nexus.

Governments are in the driver’s seat, but turning synergies into coordinated climate and biodiversity action requires a whole-of-society push.

Everyone has a vital role to play. This includes indigenous peoples and local communities—who have long been on the frontlines of the biodiversity-climate crisis – and increasingly, we are encouraged by efforts from the private sector, local governments and cities.

When it comes to implementation, many promising technologies and initiatives coming from actors other than national governments are supporting the necessary acceleration to steer clear of dangerous tipping points.

Some of Earth’s distress signals are increasingly in the news: heatwaves, floods and wildfires. This week, the World Meteorological Organization announced that, fuelled by unusually warm ocean waters in the tropical Pacific, El Niño conditions are developing and are set to influence global temperature and rainfall patterns, increasing the risk of extreme weather over the coming months.

This is not a moment for despair. Solutions are at hand. Let us heed the signals and redouble our efforts to: catalyse transformative action to stabilize the climate and live in harmony with nature.