Ambitious Leadership
An intergovernmental coalition that seeks to protect our world and our future.
Our future depends on preventing the collapse of the natural systems that provide our food, clean water, clean air and stable climate. In order to preserve these services, we must protect enough of the natural world to sustain them.
The High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People is an intergovernmental group championing a global deal for nature and people that can halt the accelerating loss of species, and protect vital ecosystems that are the source of our economic security.
The HAC will utilize the upcoming UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COPs and the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2020, to push for ambitious, science-driven global action to safeguard nature and humanity’s future.
Join the ranks of the HAC
There are no financial commitments required in order to participate in the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People. However, the HAC nations will agree to meet over the course of the next year and together engage in actions ranging from signing declarations, to holding press conferences and recruiting numerous countries to join.
Pillars of the HAC
As the HAC for Nature and People gathers momentum and grows it will work toward a global deal that includes the following key elements:
Sustainable management. The entire planet must be managed sustainably with no net loss of natural habitats, supported by a circular economy, and managed for the sustainable and equitable sharing of benefits from nature.
New spatial targets to protect biodiversity. There must be increased spatial targets to protect or effectively conserve at least 30 percent of the planet - land and sea - by 2030. Efforts should promote indigenous-led conservation and focus on areas most important for biodiversity. The resulting network of conserved areas should be ecologically representative, well-connected, effectively, equitably managed, and help to maintain species diversity.
Improved management of existing protected areas. Management must be improved for the entire system of protected and conserved areas around the world. The best available science should be used and sufficient resources made available to deliver the desired conservation outcomes.
Increased funding. Additional public funding and private financing from corporations and philanthropists must be mobilized to support the long-term management and local governance of protected and conserved areas around the world.
Implementation: Once these pillars are adopted, the HAC needs to have a clear implementation mechanism that is gradually enforceable and can be incorporated into national development strategies and key economic sectors.
Photographs by: James P. Blair, National Geographic (banner); Michael Nichols, National Geographic (HAC pillars image).