Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc declares support for an Emergency New Deal for Nature and People

“Vietnam is making great efforts to join hands with the world in a transformation toward a green and circular economic model; where we will not exchange the environment for economic development, but rather, we will increase sustainable development and always put climate change adaptation, resources management, and environmental protection at a crucial place in our resolution and policy planning”, said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in a video shown at an event called Leaders for Nature and People, with a high profile guest list including political leaders, corporate leaders, members of royal families and high-profile public figures.

Our planet is in crisis. Since 1970, wildlife populations have declined on average by 60%, while humanity’s impact and overexploitation of natural resources has grown exponentially. The consequences for people can be seen already through increasing fires, floods and extreme weather. Science tells us that, without urgent action, they will only get worse.

WWF together with many others is highlighting the unmissable opportunity that world leaders now have to course-correct. Next year, key international treaties – including the Sustainable Development Goals, the Nature Convention, and the Climate Accord – will be renegotiated, presenting a crucial chance to place sustainability at the heart of our political, economic and social systems. We are calling for an ambitious new deal for nature and people, designed to bring multiple efforts together to safeguard futures.

Vietnam is one of the top countries to be most affected by climate change, which is an ‘amplifier’ of Vietnam’s current environmental threats such as habitat loss, the decimation of biodiversity of flora and fauna, poorly planned infrastructure, and unsustainable natural resource extraction. The evidence of climate change impacts has never been clearer in our everyday lives, from heatwaves, forest fires and floods, to typhoons and droughts.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also sent a strong message to other world leaders: “As a reliable and responsible member of the international community, Vietnam seeks to join hands with the international community and other stakeholders to call upon the UN for the development of a Declaration for a New Deal for Nature and People; emphasizing the building of a harmonious relationship between economic development and environmental protection, as well as between nature and people”.

The event is organised by WWF and partners on Monday 23 September – on the evening of the UN Climate Action Summit – to discuss the environmental emergency the world is now facing and call for an Emergency Declaration for Nature and People to be made at the 75th UN General Assembly next year. At the event, leaders are able to discuss and publicly support the need for an emergency declaration for nature and people. The declaration – to be signed by Heads of State and Government by September 2020 – will send a strong, united political signal that supports ambitious outcomes on climate, biodiversity, oceans and the SDGs in 2020.

Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF-International said “Leaders meeting in New York in 2020 will have the chance to secure a sustainable future for people and nature. The decisions they make in the next year will continue to have impacts for decades to come, and we all depend on them using this chance wisely. They must now signal their commitment to placing biodiversity at the center of international treaties next year. Most urgently, leaders must recognise the planetary emergency we now face by working to secure an Emergency Declaration for Nature and People.”