New York – To coincide with the 75^th UN General Assembly, and leading up to the UN Biodiversity Summit, UNDP, UNEP, CBD and partners are creating a four-day Nature for Life Hub — a virtual space where global and local leaders will share stories on the importance of nature for sustainable development.

The Nature for Life Hub will invite a virtual audience to participate in thought-provoking exchanges, and will engage a wide variety of sectors, including governments, businesses, financial institutions, youth and local communities. Each day will culminate in key messages to be issued by the coalition of partners to be fed into the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework negotiation process, CBD COP 15 and Climate COP 26 negotiation processes.

“Healthy ecosystems underpin the Sustainable Development Goals; they support economic growth, sustain billions of livelihoods, provide the basis of food and water security, and stabilize our climate. Recent reports by IPBES, IPCC and WEF illustrate the grave consequences of biodiversity loss to our economy and to our very survival, and COVID-19 punctuates these findings by showing us of the perilous cost of nature’s loss to people’s health, wellbeing and the economy. Now, more than ever, it is imperative that we focus on nature,” said Haoliang Xu, UN ASG and Director of UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support.

The Nature for Life Hub will run a total of eighteen sessions (between 60 and 90 minutes each) on September 24-25 and 28-29, 2020. All events will showcase nature-based solutions in policy, in practice, in communities – but most of all, in action.

These events will provide new content that will be broadcast live on social media and through the official virtual platform, as well as be available online after the Hub. In addition to the live stream, there will be a virtual press room with a live messaging feed and interview opportunities.

To sign up for sessions, visit: natureforlifehub.org.  Follow @UNDPLive on twitter during sessions #NatureforLife #StandforNature 

·         Day 1 – SDG DAY: Celebrating the value of nature in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

·         Day 2 – BUSINESS AND FINANCE DAY:  Greening our wallets in development, finance and business

·         Day 3 – GLOBAL AMBITION DAY: A planetary response to our planetary emergency

·         Day 4 – LOCAL ACTION DAY: Celebrating the power of local action, and the role of Indigenous peoples and local communities in our planetary response

The organizing partners for the overall Nature for Life Hub include but are not limited to UNDP, UNEP and UNEP-WCMC, African Development Bank Group,  CBD Secretariat, Birdlife, Business for Nature, Campaign for Nature, Climate Advisers, Climate Week NYC , Conservation International, Club of Rome, CLUA, EcoHealth Alliance, Environmental Defense Fund, FAO, Finance for Nature Series, Ford Foundation, GEFI, ICLEI, ICRI Forum, If Not Us Than Who, Next Green, The Nature Conservancy, National Geographic Society, the Nature for Climate Coalition, OP2B, The Global Ethical Finance Initiative, United Nations Foundation,  UNESCO, UN Global Compact, UN-REDD, Wildlife Conservation Society, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, World Economic Forum, World Wildlife Fund and Youth4Nature, among others.

For media inquiries: Sangita Khadka | UNDP New York | email: sangita.khadka@undp.org | Tel: +1 212 906 5043