Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

As we are gathered here in this beautiful city of Nagoya, I would like to express our gratitude to the Government of Japan for hosting this important meeting, and convey appreciations to the municipal authorities of the City of Nagoya for the excellent arrangement made for this meeting.

As a member of the G77 and China, the republic of Yemen is also fully committed to play its role as His Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh, President of the Republic of Yemen, has written in the CBD Magazine Satoyama, I quote:

"The Republic of Yemen, in its capacity as the chair of the Group of 77 and China for the year 2010, which coincides with the International Year of Biodiversity, is deeply honoured by this privilege and the opportunity to double its efforts toward achieving our ethical and moral commitment to the Convention…We will continue our efforts at the highest level to play a pivotal role as Chairman of the Group of 77 and China to meet our obligations towards the group and towards the international community."

At the thirty-fourth annual meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77 and China, held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 28 September 2010, the 131 Ministers reaffirmed the strategic importance of the Convention on Biological Diversity. In their Ministerial Statement, they "noted the urgent need to meet the three objectives of the Convention and their target of reducing biodiversity loss by 2010 and welcomed the decision by the COP calling for a high level special event in conjunction with the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly to mark the International Year of Biodiversity in 2010."

Indeed biodiversity is a natural asset, the wealth of our nations and the future of our children. Poor people depend on nature for their livelihood. Hence, protecting biodiversity is protecting future generations. As we pointed out, upon Yemen's assumption of the Chairmanship of the G77 last January, "the preservation of biodiversity is extremely important for developing countries since they depend on natural resources for food and sustenance, and since their economies mainly depend on agricultural products, livestock and fisheries."

Now is the time for us to act, because we continue to lose biodiversity at an unprecedented rate. The third edition of Global Biodiversity Outlook warns that massive loss of biodiversity could occur before the end of this century and that ecosystem are approaching tipping points beyond which irreversible degradation will take place. To make matters worse, biodiversity is being increasingly compounded by climate change; thus, undermining the development of our nations. They are therefore the victims of a situation for which they bear no responsibility. The development partners, therefore, bear a responsibility and the burden to act.

It is, therefore, imperative that we adopt the new 2011-2020 Strategic Plan of the Convention and its 2020 targets and sub-targets with universal participation. We also need to keep the focus on new financial resources and technology transfer to support its implementation. Moreover, we cannot close this meeting without adopting the Aichi-Nagoya protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing. As we have just heard from the Secretary-General in his video message, the Aichi-Nagoya protocol will be a major tool for achieving the Millennium Development Goals and implementing the Convention's new Strategic Plan.

A crucial component of the new Strategic Plan is the means of implementation, monitoring, and evaluation mechanism. In this area, the G77 and China advocates the convening of a High-Level Segment, during the 70th session of United Nations General Assembly in 2015, to review its implementation. The September 22nd High-Level Segment of the 65th UN General Assembly in New York, last month, was a step in the right direction. But there must be many more steps to taken: it is necessary, therefore, to fully engage the main organ of the United Nations, that is to say the General Assembly, in the implementation of the new Strategic Plan.

In this regard, the G77 and China welcomes the commitment of the Secretary-General, as expressed in his video message, to mobilize the entire UN system in support of the new Strategic Plan. All parts of the UN need to join forces to assist the implementation of the new biodiversity framework for the next decade. UNEP, in particular, has a unique role to play. We will need the full support of UNEP on the road ahead, and ask it to provide the necessary adequate services to the CBD and to treat it as a development, and not merely a conservation convention.

Indeed the Group of 77 and China is fully committed to play its role in the implementation of the new strategic plan as evidenced by the declaration adopted by the G77 Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting last month in New York. The Multi-Year Plan of Action for South-South Cooperation on Biodiversity for Development adopted here in Nagoya last week at the First G77 and China Forum on Biodiversity for Development is a testimony to our collective and individual commitment. In this context, I would like to convey our gratitude to Dr Ahmed Djoghlaf the Executive Secretary for his support and the partnership established with the G77 and China.

Let me close by conveying our gratitude to our host, Japan and ask all delegations for their cooperation in making COP10 a resounding success for nations of the world, for the G77 and China, and for biodiversity. We owe it to Japan our host and to our children. We must act now and together, before it is truly too late for life on Earth.

Thank you.