– as Guyana’s biodiversity conservation efforts gain momentum with UN support, official membership to global alliance
PRESIDENT Dr. Irfaan Ali has hailed the formal participation of the United Nations in the Global Biodiversity Alliance as a “powerful endorsement” and a critical step in elevating biodiversity protection on the international agenda.
Speaking at the official declaration ceremony held at Office of the President on Monday, President Ali framed the event as “very special, not only for Guyana, but for all of the stakeholders who value the environment [and] value biodiversity.”
He underscored the UN’s longstanding role in Guyana’s development and expressed hope for deepened collaboration with the right data sets and right priorities.
“Biodiversity is collapsing at a rate unprecedented in human history, with up to 1 million species now at risk of extinction. The rapid loss of the world’s biodiversity is a direct threat to food security, water systems, public health, and the global economy. It is, in other words, an existential threat to humanity,” President Ali said.
The President said the UN’s participation was both “a natural fit and a powerful endorsement” of the alliance’s work, noting that biodiversity protection is now central to the UN system’s global agenda, from the Convention on Biological Diversity to the Sustainable Development Goals.
“It is natural because biodiversity protection has become central to the global agenda of the United Nations system, and it’s powerful because the presence of the world’s foremost multilateral institution elevates the credibility, reach, and impact of this initiative. The United Nations has long stood at the forefront of global efforts to protect the environment and promote sustainable development,” the President said.
He further highlighted the UN’s role in placing biodiversity “at the centre of global policy making” and in recognising that it is inseparable from economic development, poverty reduction, climate resilience, food production, public health and social stability.
President Ali stressed that biodiversity must be integrated into sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, energy, tourism, urban planning and national economic policy, aligning this approach with the core philosophy of the Global Biodiversity Alliance.
President Ali issued a broad invitation to international organisations, development partners, multilateral institutions and sovereign states to join the alliance, arguing that the biodiversity crisis is “too large, too complex, and too interconnected for any single country or institution to address alone.
He called for collective action at a scale never seen before, involving governments, civil society, indigenous peoples, the private sector and the scientific community.
Meanwhile, UN Resident Coordinator Jean Kamau said the alliance aligns closely with international sustainable development priorities and reinforces South-South co-operation.
The UN is now the 97th member to join the global biodiversity alliance.
“Today’s ceremony reflects more than a commitment on paper; it demonstrates our shared vision for safeguarding the natural heritage of our planet for present and future generations. Biodiversity is not only a cornerstone of environmental sustainability, but also a fundamental pillar of economic resilience, food security, cultural identity, and human well-being,” Kamau said.
Guyana’s leadership in biodiversity conservation is bolstered by collaborations with major global institutions and organisations including Yale Center for Biodiversity and Global Change, Conservation International, the World Bank, the Government of Brazil and other states, alongside Indigenous communities and private sector partners in green finance.
In 2025, the country had launched the Global Biodiversity Alliance.
