French President Emmanuel Macron was philosophical on Wednesday in his appeal for global efforts to reverse biodiversity loss, saying it is the life insurance of humans.

The “protection of nature” raises the fundamental ethical issue of the “protection of human beings”. Above all, the “protection of biodiversity” is the ‘protection of ecosystems”, he spoke at the UN Biodiversity Summit.

“I do not believe that the right of any other living creature is higher than a human right. But I do not believe in the effectiveness of preserving human rights without preserving the ecosystems. For me, this is the philosophical and ethical basis of this battle for biodiversity,” Macron said.

Scientists have long been alerting about the risks of new infectious diseases due to deforestation and the poaching of wild species, by showing the links between human, animal and environmental health. The Covid-19 pandemic reminds that biodiversity is the life insurance of humans.

“When it is weakened, our health security and our economic security are at stake,” said Macron.

He stressed the need to step up the fight against environmental crime, and to put a definitive end to all illegal activities that endanger nature, destroy ecosystems, feed corruption, hinder the development of rule of law and, ultimately undermine the sustainable development of humanity.

He called for public investment to enable the transformation. The French recovery plan will devote more than 1 billion euros (1.17 billion US dollars) to biodiversity and the fight against land degradation, he said.

“If 2020 is the year of awareness, 2021 must be the year of action,” Macron said.

France will mobilize for the adoption of an ambitious new global strategic framework for the protection of biodiversity at next year’s UN Biodiversity Conference in Kunming, China, he said.

“Like the Paris Agreement on climate change, we would like this agreement to include quantified and measurable commitments, as well as a clear implementation and accountability mechanism,” he said.