FAO - UNEP Presser - Ecosystem Restoration Report
/
3:16
/
MP4
/
241.7 MB

Edited News , Press Conferences | UNEP , FAO

FAO - UNEP Presser - Ecosystem Restoration Report

Intense restoration of nature needed to address climate and biodiversity crises, says joint UNEP-FAO report

The triple threat of climate change, loss of nature and pollution requires the world to deliver on its commitment to restore at least one billion degraded hectares of land in the next decade - an area about the size of China states the report “Becoming #GenerationRestoration: Ecosystem restoration for people, nature and climate,” launched today by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO).

The report is also an urgent call for action to address the climate and biodiversity crises.

“Ecosystem faces massive threats, forests are being cleared, rivers and lakes polluted, wetland and peatlands drained, coast and oceans are degraded and overfished, just to mention a few examples”, said Dominique Burgeon, Director of the FAO Liaison Office at the UN in Geneva”. He added that “the conservation of healthy ecosystems is essential, but it is not sufficient. We need to go beyond and restore all ecosystem that can be restored”.

Ecosystems requiring urgent restoration include farmlands, forests, grasslands and savannahs, mountains, peatlands, urban areas, freshwaters, and oceans. Communities living across almost two billion of degraded hectares of land include some of the world's poorest and marginalized.

“The ecosystems are degraded in alarming ways and humanity is using about 1,6 times the amount of services that nature can provide sustainably to its survival”, said Bruno Pozzi, Director of the Europe Office, UNEP. So definitely the conservation and the way we treat healthy ecosystems as of today is not enough. So we need to restore what we lost or what we have degraded and we need to invest”.

FAO and UNEP stressed that countries should consider building their post-COVID-19 recovery in a greener way. According to UNEP’s Bruno Pozzi, “the Covid-19 pandemic has just reminded us that when we treat nature badly, well there are consequences. It is therefore an opportunity with the trillions of dollars and Euros and Swiss Francs that are coming on the market to accelerate a change and to build back differently, greener and restore our ecosystems”.

Tim Christophersen, Head of the Nature for Climate Branch at UNEP’s Ecosystems Division said that “if we do this at the necessary scale, it will have benefits far beyond climate change and biodiversity. It will have benefits for food security, for health, for clean water, for jobs, restoration can benefit all these Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)”.

Actions that reverse degradation are necessary to meet the Paris Agreement target of keeping global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius. Restoration, if combined with stopping further conversion of natural ecosystems, may help avoid 60 percent of expected biodiversity extinctions. Agroforestry alone has the potential to increase food security for 1.3 billion people, while investments in agriculture, mangrove protection and water management will help adapt to climate change, with benefits around four times the original investment.

“In the last 30 years we have lost an area of forest of 420 million hectares, that’s the size of two countries, India and Nigeria combined, so we are currently still losing 10 million hectares a year”, said Mette Wilkie, FAO Director of the Forestry Division. “That is two and a half time the size of Switzerland. That has to stop and we can do that. The major reason for deforestation varies across the world but largely it’s because of agricultural expansion”.

UNEP and FAO estimate that global land restoration costs are to be at least USD 200 billion per year by 2030. The report outlines that every 1 USD invested in restoration creates up to USD 30 in economic benefits.

While the need for terrestrial restoration is urgent, the coastal and marine protection is even more important for everyone’s wellbeing.

“Two thirds of ocean ecosystems are already being damaged, degraded or modified. If we consider that this planet is about 70% ocean, then that is an enormous amount”, said Tim Christophersen, Head of UNEP’s Nature for Climate Branch and Ecosystems Division.Keep in mind that his includes also plastic pollution in the ocean which is now so ubiquitous that it is very hard to avoid plastic even in fish that we catch and eat. One third of commercial marine fish populations are fished unsustainably, so this is a real risk to food security.”

-ends -

Shotlist of the Edited story

  1. Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying, a sunny day.
  2. Medium shot, UNTV studio with technicians
  3. SOUNDBITE (English) —Dominique Burgeon, Director of the FAO Liaison Office at UN in Geneva: “Ecosystem faces massive threats, forests are being cleared, rivers and lakes polluted, wetland and peatlands drained, coast and oceans are degraded and overfished, just to mention a few examples. Conservation of healthy ecosystems is essential, but it is not sufficient. We need to go beyond and restore all ecosystem that can be restored”.
  4. Close up, hands on mixer
  5. SOUNDBITE (English) —Bruno Pozzi, Director of the Europe Office, UNEP: “The ecosystems are degraded in alarming ways and humanity is using about 1,6 times the amount of services that nature can provide sustainably to its survival. So definitely the conservation and the way we treat healthy ecosystems as of today is not enough. So we need to restore what we lost or what we have degraded and we need to invest”.
  6. Close up, equalizer of sound machine
  7. SOUNDBITE (English) —Bruno Pozzi, Director of the Europe Office, UNEP: “Covid-19 pandemic has just reminded us that when we treat nature badly, well there are consequences. It is therefore an opportunity with the trillions of dollars and Euros and Swiss Francs that are coming on the market to accelerate a change and to build back differently, greener and restore our ecosystems”.
  8. Medium shot, monitor with Tim Christophersen speaking
  9. SOUNDBITE (English) —Tim Christophersen, Head, Nature for Climate Branch, Ecosystems Division, UNEP: “If we do this at the necessary scale, it will have benefits far beyond climate change and biodiversity. It will have benefits for food security, for health, for clean water, for jobs, restoration can benefit all these Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)”.
  10. Wide shot, UNTV studio in Geneva with technician
  11. SOUNDBITE (English) —Mette Wilkie, Director of the Forestry Division, FAO: “In the last 30 years we have lost an area of forest of 420 million hectares, that’s the size of two countries, India and Nigeria combined, so we are currently still losing 10 million hectares a year. That is two and a half time the size of Switzerland. That has to stop and we can do that. The major reason for deforestation varies across the world but largely it’s because of agricultural expansion”.
  12. Close up, recording machine
  13. SOUNDBITE (English) —Tim Christophersen, Head, Nature for Climate Branch, Ecosystems Division, UNEP: “Two thirds of ocean ecosystems being already damaged, degraded or modified. If we consider that this planet is about 70% ocean, then that is an enormous amount. Keep in mind that his includes also plastic pollution in the ocean which is now so ubiquitous that it is very hard to avoid plastic even in fish that we catch and eat. One third of commercial marine fish populations are fished unsustainably, so this is a real risk to food security.”
  14. Medium shot, UNTV studio in Geneva with technician
  15. Medium shot, screen with Mette Wilkie speaking
  16. Medium shot, screen with Mette Wilkie speaking

Similar Stories

World Investment Report 2025 – Launch in Geneva

1

1

1

Edited News | UNCTAD

World Investment Report 2025 – Launch in Geneva ENG FRA

UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched today the World Investment Report 2025. Global foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 11%, marking the second consecutive year of decline and confirming a deepening slowdown in productive capital flows, according to the report.

OHCHR/Special Procedures - Press Conference: Elections in the digital age - 19 June 2025

1

1

1

Press Conferences | OHCHR

OHCHR/Special Procedures - Press Conference: Elections in the digital age - 19 June 2025 ENG FRA

Press conference of the UN Special Rapporteur on the freedom of opinion and expression and the UN Special Rapporteur on the freedom of peaceful assembly and association

UNCTAD Press conference - 19 June 2025

1

1

1

Press Conferences | UNCTAD

UNCTAD Press conference - 19 June 2025 ENG FRA

Publication of the World Investment Report 2025

HRC 59 Press conference: Commission of Inquiry on OPT and Israel - 18 June 2025

1

1

1

Press Conferences | HRC

HRC 59 Press conference: Commission of Inquiry on OPT and Israel - 18 June 2025 ENG FRA

Launch of the latest report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel

Human Rights Council - Iran

1

1

1

Edited News | HRC

Human Rights Council - Iran ENG FRA

As the Iran-Israel crisis continued into a sixth day, the UN deputy human rights chief Nada Al-Nashif called for urgent talks to end the continuing exchanges of missile attacks between Tehran and Tel-Aviv.

HRC Press Conference: Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan -17 June 2025

2

1

1

Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC

HRC Press Conference: Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan -17 June 2025 ENG FRA

Heavy fighting in Sudan continues to escalate as a “direct result” of the continued flow of arms into the country meaning that the war is far from over, top independent human rights investigators said on Tuesday.

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 17 June 2025

1

1

1

Press Conferences | HRC , WHO , UNWOMEN , WMO , ICRC , UNCTAD

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 17 June 2025 ENG FRA

Rolando Gómez, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section at the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the World Health Organization, International Committee of the Red Cross, United Nations Women, United Nations Trade and Development, the Human Rights Council, and the World Meteorological Organization.

Gaza mass casualty incidents  WHO

1

1

1

Edited News | WHO

Gaza mass casualty incidents WHO ENG FRA

More Gazans killed trying to get food, healthcare near to ‘full disaster’

Gaza’s health system is at breaking point, overwhelmed time and again by scores of patients killed or injured near aid distribution sites, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk Update on Democratic Republique of Congo to the 59th Human Rights Council

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk Update on Democratic Republique of Congo to the 59th Human Rights Council ENG FRA

La situation en République démocratique du Congo est aujourd’hui encore plus grave et alarmante, a averti lundi le Haut-Commissaire des Nations Unies aux droits de l’homme Volker Türk. 

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk Global Update to the 59th Human Rights Council

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk Global Update to the 59th Human Rights Council ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his global update to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, highlighting key issues and trends, and the human rights situation in some 60 countries. 

Eastern DRC update - UNDP 13 June 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | UNDP

Eastern DRC update - UNDP 13 June 2025 ENG FRA

As diplomatic efforts continue to end fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN development agency (UNDP) issued an appeal on Friday on behalf of people uprooted by the violence to help them rebuild their lives and livelihoods.

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 13 June 2025

1

1

1

Press Conferences | ILO , OCHA , UNCTAD , UNODA , OCHA , UNDP , WHO

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 13 June 2025 ENG FRA

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Development Programme, and the International Labour Organization.