Zoologist Jane Goodall warns: ‘The world is a mess’ ahead of COP16

British primate expert Jane Goodall wants a coming United Nations summit on biodiversity to lead to action rather than "words and false promises". Seen here at a World Economic Forum in 2020.

As officials from around 200 countries prepare to meet in Colombia for the Cop16 biodiversity summit starting Monday, world-respected British zoologist Jane Goodall said there was little time left to reverse the downward slide. She wants the United Nations meeting to lead to action rather than "words and false promises".

"What keeps me going is that right now, the world is a mess," Goodall told RFI. "I care really passionately about the natural world, the environment, not just the chimpanzees, but all the other animals, but I also care about children. I care about the people around the world who are suffering so much today."

Goodall has been a UN Messenger of Peace since 2002 and has used this platform to raise awareness about the damage done to nature.

At 90, she is still crisscrossing the globe in a bid to help defend the chimpanzee, who she first went to Tanzania to study more than 60 years ago.

"I was given a gift, and when I speak, people listen. And people who are losing hope, I seem to be able to give them more hope, to enable everyone to roll up their sleeves and take action," she told RFI ahead of her talk at Unesco in Paris on Saturday.

Her visit to the French capital comes just two days ahead of the Cop16 biodiversity summit in Cali, Colombia.

Reverse species destruction

Themed "Peace with Nature," it has the urgent task of coming up with monitoring and funding mechanisms to ensure that 23 UN targets agreed in 2022 to halt and reverse species destruction can be met by 2030.

(with AFP)


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