50 STATES COMMITTED TO PROTECT 30% OF LAND & OCEANS AT ONE PLANET SUMMIT

USPA NEWS - In France, traders are very angry and express it by demonstrations in several regions and cities of France, from North to South, and as far as Corsica. This movement of "angry traders" is justified by the feeling of injustice as to their closure since the beginning of the confinement of the second wave of COVID-19, that is to say on October 29, 20, considered "non-essential" versus supermarkets and hypermarkets , which they remain open, because they sell e food. On the one hand, traders consider it to be unfair competition, not to mention the loss of earnings, as they are future and forced to be women during the three months of the first confinement in spring 2020.


FRENCH TRADERS AND MERCHANDISERS BELIEVE THEIR UNFAIR CLOSURE BECAUSE THEY RESPECT THE HEALTH BARRIERS OVER COVID-19
The traders believe that they have respected the sanitary barriers (Limitation of the number of customers at a time, obligation to wash their hands with hydroalcoholic gel at the entrance of the store, cleaning of clothes, refusal of customers who do not wear the mask, etc. ). The financial losses are colossal, despite the aid announced by the government, knowing that a few months later of these announce

FIFTY STATES COMMITTED TO PROTECTING AT LEAST 30% OF THE AND & OCEANS--------------------------------- This summit made it possible to take stock of "the coalition for high ambition", led by Costa Rica, France and the United Kingdom. It now has more than 50 states committed to protecting "at least 30% of the land and oceans". "To achieve 30% protection of the ocean, marine protected areas (MPAs) will have to be established on the high seas", which is not the case today, reacted the NGO coalition High seas alliance .---------------------------------------------------------------------- A new coalition, much more modest (of six countries), has been launched for the Mediterranean, very polluted and victim of overfishing. France hopes to strengthen it by the IUCN congress scheduled for September in Marseille. This summit brought together the participation of 11 heads of state and government (Germany, Canada, Costa Rica, France, Italy, Mauritania, Monaco, Norway, Netherlands, Democratic Republic of Congo and United Kingdom), as well as Secretary General of the United Nations, the Prince of Wales, the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council.

GREAT GREEN WALL RECEIVES OVER 14 BILLION EUROS TO REGREEN THE SAHEL- FRANCE WORLD BANK LISTED AMONG DONORS---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bonn/Paris, January 11, 2021 ““ The ambitious Great Green Wall for the Sahel and Sahara Initiative (GGW) has received at least 14.326 billion US dollars in new funding. The funding will fast track efforts to restore degrading land, save biological diversity as well as create green jobs and build resilience of the Sahelian people.   Emmanuel Macron, President of France, made the announcement at the just concluded One Planet Summit for Biodiversity co-organized by France, the United Nations and World Bank.----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The GGW snakes along the southern margin of Africa´s Sahara Desert running from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea. The Great Green Wall Accelerator makes up 30 per cent of 33 billion United States Dollars needed to achieve the Great Green Wall´s ambitions for the year 2030. Mohamed Cheikh El-Ghazouani, President of Mauritania and current chair of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall, welcomed the Accelerator program on behalf of the region.  "We welcome the announcement of the Great Green Wall Accelerator Initiative, whose objective is to release an initial contribution over the period 2021-2025, to give effect to the commitments of the financial partners in a coordinated framework," said Ghazouani.-------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The mobilization of this additional funding through an innovative approach will certainly contribute to the achievement of the Great Green Wall goals, which aim by 2030, at the restoration of 100 million hectares of degraded land and the creation of 10 million green jobs.... This initiative will certainly facilitate the alignment of our partners´ interventions, in response to the concerns raised by our Ministers of Environment at the last Great Green Wall Conference," said Ghazouani. Ghazouani stressed that it would “enable our countries, in accessing the necessary funds, to increase local investments within the framework of the five pillars adopted and to strengthen the capacities of the national agencies of the Great Green Wall. In this context, I would like to suggest the establishment, in each of our countries, of a biodiversity Fund into which we will contribute a portion of the resources resulting from the cancellation of our debts. Cancellation that we call for with all our hearts."--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Pandemic recovery is our chance to change course. With smart policies and the right investments, we can chart a path that brings health to all, revives economies and builds resilience. Innovations in energy and transport can steer a sustainable recovery and an economic and social transformation.  Nature-based solutions ““ such as Africa´s Great Green Wall ““ are especially promising,“ said António Guterres, UN Secretary General.-------------------------------------------------------------------- Since its inception in 2007, the Great Green Wall (GGW) has partnered with stakeholders to regreen the region and create an 8,000 km long world wonder involving at least 11 countries and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The GGW Initiative, now well into its second decade, is an African-led flagship program demonstrating how to harness the power of nature to provide policy solutions to multiple and complex environmental threats, such as land degradation, desertification, drought, climate change, biodiversity loss, poverty and food insecurity, simultaneously.--------------------------- The GGW has inspired many African countries which are now associated with it and its work is contributing to the implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. GGW is among the iconic global campaigns targeted for completion during the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration ending in 2030. The virtual 'One Planet Summit' for biodiversity held on January 11, 2021 in Paris was an opportunity to raise the level of ambition of the international community in protecting nature, while responding to the new questions raised by the COVID-19 pandemic as we collectively mobilize resources to build back better and improve livelihoods in the Sahel through the Great Green Wall Initiative. The summit is mobilizing resources, heads of government and partners as well as leaders of international organizations, financial institutions, the business sector and NGOs to make commitments for concrete action to preserve and restore biodiversity, to make strong new announcements and to launch transformational initiatives for nature. Source : Elysee and UNCCD