'We are treating nature like a toilet … and ultimately, we are committing suicide by proxy,' says UN chief in his fiery denunciations at ceremonial opening of COP15 meeting in Canada
Antonio Guterres says unchecked and unequal economic growth threatens humanity, denouncing corporations for turning the world's ecosystems into"playthings of profit".
"With our bottomless appetite for unchecked and unequal economic growth, humanity has become a weapon of mass extinction," he said in a speech ahead of biodiversity talks in Montreal on Tuesday. "As you can also see, Canada is a place of free expression, where individuals and communities are free to express themselves openly and strongly, and we thank them for sharing their perspectives," said Trudeau in response.
The challenges are daunting: one million species are at risk of extinction; one-third of all land is severely degraded, and fertile soil is being lost; while pollution and climate crisis are accelerating the degradation of the oceans. "For the Paris agreement to succeed, biodiversity also has to succeed. For climate to succeed, nature has to succeed, and that's why we have to deal with them together," she said.
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