World leaders at the G20 summit have a unique chance to save the planet’s wildlife

Editorial: The Independent is proud to be part of a global coalition urging governments to protect biodiversity

The Independent is working with conservation charity Space for Giants to protect wildlife at risk from poachers due to the conservation funding crisis caused by coronavirus (Roshni Lodhia for Space for Giants)

Conservationists have united as never before to put pressure on world leaders, meeting virtually this weekend in the G20 summit hosted by Saudi Arabia, to save wildlife and preserve as much as possible of the natural environment. The Wildlife Conservation 20 (WC20) declaration urges the governments of the world to “invest in nature”. 

The declaration calls for an end to deforestation, controls on the wildlife trade and support for people living in or depending on natural landscapes. The Independent, which launched its Stop The Illegal Wildlife Trade campaign earlier this year demanding a clampdown on poaching and the illegal trade in wild animals, urges leaders to act on the declaration with urgency.

Protecting biodiversity is not just an important part of recovering from the coronavirus crisis, but a way of reducing the risk of future pandemics – given the possible role of the wild animal trade in the transmission of new viruses to humans. 

The WC20 declaration says that the coronavirus pandemic has been a wake-up call to everyone on the planet: “That is why the WC20 calls on the G20 nations to implement greater investment in addressing this critical present imbalance with nature. Otherwise, the natural world, on which we all rely, will not be safeguarded for the long-term wellbeing and security of current and future human generations, and for all life on Earth.” 

Under the slogan “One Health”, the 20 conservation organisations making up WC20 argue that the health of humans, wildlife and the entire biosphere is connected. Indeed, all concerns for environmental sustainability are linked, and action on the climate emergency is the first priority, because it is only by stabilising the climate that biodiversity can be preserved. 

That is why The Independent welcomed the election of Joe Biden as US president-elect, and his announcement that one of his first acts in the White House will be to return the US to the community of nations signed up to the Paris Agreement, committing the world to trying to limit the increase in global average temperature to 1.5C. Before that, in September, we welcomed the commitment of the Chinese government to carbon neutrality by 2060.

These steps may make it possible to work towards shorter-term goals for the environment. The Independent is working with conservation charity Space for Giants to protect wildlife at risk from poachers due to the conservation funding crisis caused by coronavirus. We do so not out of mere sentiment, although it is hard not to feel awed by the magnificence of nature. We do so because it is in the self-interest of humankind to preserve the natural world on which our survival ultimately depends. 

As G20 leaders gather, remotely, by the miracle of technology, we ask them to bear in mind their responsibility to future generations.