We are at a pivotal moment in our shared history. The global goals of a healthy planet, social equality, and economic opportunity for all are within reach. But we cannot prevaricate.

A recent report by UNEP and Interpol estimated that between 50 to 90 per cent of logging in key tropical countries of the Amazon basin, Central Africa and South East Asia is being carried out by organized crime. This threatens not only attempts to eradicate poverty and deforestation but also efforts to combat climate change.

Real results will emerge when we realize the power of combined individual actions and voices to effect change.

Many of our partners are here and this is where the world's expertise on environment and the wider sustainability agenda often and regularly gathers. Here is where international initiatives frequently start and are nurtured. Geneva is one of the hubs where global programs can be often most effectively managed.

In our interdependent world, our neighbors are not only on our street, but can be ten thousand miles away on an island in rising seas.

Even if we act immediately, the world is doomed to lose many of its animal and plant species and this inturn will reduce the ability of ecosystems to deliver vital services to human populations. The Red List gives all of us a practical tool for raising awareness of the biodiversity crisis and for forging new partnerships within the international community.

The way humanity manages or mismanages its nature-based assets, including pollinators, will in part define our collective future in the 21st century.