STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. TESFAI GHEBRESELASSIE, MINISTER OF LAND, WATER AND
ENVIRONMENT OF THE STATE OF ERITREA DURING THE BIODIVERSITY SUMMITNEW YORK, 30 SEPTEMBER 2020
(DELIVERED REMOTELY)

Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Participants,
I have the honour to address this gathering.
Three decades after the Convention on Biodiversity came into effect; there is moreglobal awareness about our dependence on a well-functioning biodiversity, thenegative consequences of human action on the ecosystem, and the necessity ofinternational cooperation to avert a likely crisis. However, our action is notcommensurate with the immense challenge that we are facing.
Global warming and pollution continue unabated triggering climate crisis that upsets
among others, species distribution, phenology, population dynamics and community
structure. Species and their habitats are lost because of heedless exploitation ofnatural resources,
Damage to the ecosystem is an existential threat. The COVID-19 pandemic and thedestruction of biodiversity are not unrelated. It is a stark reminder of how the distractionof an ecosystem is causing greater interaction between humans and animals. It
showed how feeble we humans are in the face of a pathogen.
Biodiversity is our barricade from novel diseases!
Mr. President,
The chances for humanity to succeed in maintaining environmental integrity conducive
to life will depend on the strong political will of all countries, without exception, to act
promptly in unison, as well as on a more meaningful technological and financial
cooperation between the developed and developing countries.
With this strong conviction, Eritrea welcomes the Leaders’ Pledge to Nature that it has
also endorsed.
On our part, we have been striving, with modest progress, to curb the ecologicalproblems that pose threat to the life and socio-economic progress of our citizens.

The government of Eritrea has put in place an integrated environmental management
programme to ensure, by 2040, that the natural environment is stable and capable ofmeeting the needs and well-being of its citizens. To this end, ongoing undertakings of
biodiversity protection and enhancement (including soil and water conservation,afforestation and reforestation, establishment and expansion of terrestrial
and marine protected areas, as well as sustainable use of the same) will
be scaled up through wider community participation, more investment and tackling
regulatory framework gapas and enforcement weaknesses.
Mr President;
In conclusion, I would like to draw the attention of this important gathering to theprecarious condition of an abandoned oil tanker moored in the Red Sea waters near
the Yemeni port of Al Hudaydah. Eritrea calls for a united stand to urge the concerned
Yemenis political forces to cooperate in the safe unloading of the tanker, in order topreclude marine ecological catastrophe and socioeconomic damage that could result
by spill dispersion of over one million barrels of crude oil from the tanker into the watersof southern Red Sea. .
This Summit comes at a critical time. A lesson from the crippling effect of COVID-19
pandemic, of how ill prepared humans are for a global crisis, should compel every
state to rise above narrow and immediate political and economic gains to protect thebiodiversity of our planet and safeguard lives and livelihoods of present and futuregenerations. We can, and we should prepare before the next crisis hits.
I thank you, Mr. President