The premise “Peace with Nature” is based on three pillars: transforming the relationship with nature, working to ensure that decisions respect human rights and the diversity of communities and promoting the environmental recovery of the planet.
The Government introduced in Cali, as part of the conference, the Police for the Protection of Water and the Environment, a new body specialized in the defense of water resources against growing environmental threats.
President Gustavo Petro Urrego – together with the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres - led the official opening ceremony of COP16, the most important biodiversity summit in the world and the largest international event that has been held in the recent history of the country.
During his words, the president reiterated the commitment of the Government of Change in defense of life. “We raised the idea of being a world power of life as a national destiny and as humanity and with that we became the Colombian majority,” said President Petro.
In the same sense, the Head of State affirmed that planetary life cannot be safeguarded through projects focused on the monetary interest rate, profits or greed. "Linking the overcoming of the climate crisis or the regulation of Artificial Intelligence to greed only leads us to the abyss," he said.
In turn, Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez said that this biodiversity conference should “be a real space for meetings and agreements. All the governments that have been to this COP16 - 196 countries - have an agreement for an action in defense of nature and the planet.”
In the same way, Minister Velásquez highlighted that the Defense sector has been coordinating operations in favor of the protection of natural resources and the conservation of biodiversity. "The Military Forces have a very close link with the Ministry of Environment to contribute to all programs and projects, for example, in the recovery of the Amazon rainforest, in the fight against deforestation and in the fight for reforestation,” he said.
Source: Press – Ministry of National Defense
