Introduction
Dear ambassadors and partners of World Wide Views on Biodiversity.
It is a great pleasure to see all of you here today.
Many of you have come a long way, and I hope this seminar will fulfil your expectations.
I hope that when you return from Denmark you will be fully equipped for collecting the citizens’ views on biodiversity in your particular part of the world.
When all these views are collected, they will form a powerful voice of the citizens all around the world – World Wide Views on Biodiversity.
Biodiversity is under pressure
The decline of biodiversity is a challenge of similar scale as the climate change.
While the world population grows every day, and while more and more people, fortunately, are lifted out of poverty, our consumption of natural resources are growing fast.
These and several other factors result in a decline of biodiversity of an unprecedented scale.
If we cannot rectify this and reverse the trend to a more sustainable living, our future will be bleak.
Citizens’ views will be vital to the Biodiversity Conference
At the next Biodiversity Conference in India it is very important that the world agrees on changes and firm actions – and this is where you and the World Wide Views on Biodiversity play a leading part.
Sound policy making benefits from insight in the opinions and views of citizens.
While the challenge is global, the practical solutions are based on local realities.
The World Wide Views on Biodiversity will provide the views of citizens from all over the world, and this will feed into the high level decision-making at the Conference.
The Danish Technology Board will make the voices of the citizens heard in a short documentary and in a report which will both be launched at the Biodiversity Conference in October.
Wrapping up
Last, please let me express my gratitude to all of you for engagement in this endeavour and for your efforts to make the World Wide Views and the next Conference of the Parties a success!