Urgent Action Needed to Stanch Global Biodiversity Decline, Says IPBES Report
The critical assessment report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, otherwise known as IPBES, was published on 18 December, underlining a strict need for transformative change capable of halting the current crisis facing biodiversity. The “Transformative Change Report” has a link connecting biodiversity loss with global sustainability while demanding immediate action against an almost irreversible damage to the systems.
Officially titled “Underlying Causes of Biodiversity Loss and the Determinants of Transformative Change and Options for Achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity,” the report is a result of more than 100 experts from 42 countries, working over three years. The report gives an elaborate analysis of the underlying causes of the continued decline in biodiversity as well as strategic pathways toward achievement of the United Nations’ 2050 Vision for Biodiversity.
It pointedly addresses a few salient points concerning the human disconnection with nature and has recently been one of the primary reasons behind biodiversity decline. It is also of similar import in underlining the truth that the worsened biodiversity crisis arises from placing short-term economic gains at the cost of long-term sustainability and distributed wealth and power unequally.
It further argues by stating how bad this consequence of not acting has been estimated to be. Through providing further estimates, the IPBES calculates the probability where deferring attempts to halt loss by even another decade is estimated to have caused the world’s economy double for action at present. Conversely, immediate actions in this regard may offer opportunities greater than $10 trillion that may up generate jobs worldwide of over 395 million by 2030.
It goes ahead and warns that under present trends, we are bound to seriously cross so-called tipping points, the irreversible biophysical crossings which are likely to have effects on the crashing low-altitude coral reefs, die backs of Amazon rain forests, loss of the ice sheets over Greenland, and West Antarctic. Such calls for speedy and forceful change in the light of efforts that during the reforms of the current system proved ineffectual in solving the crisis of biodiversity.
Five Key Strategies toward Transformative Change and Biodiversity Protection
IPBES states five key strategies toward transformative change and the protection of biodiversity as follows:
Conserve, Restore, and Regenerate Biocultural Diversity Protect and restore areas that carry ecological and cultural values by working on efforts such as Nepal’s Community Forestry Programme, where forests are restored along with local customs and practices.
Drive Systematic Change in Key Industries: Agriculture, livestock, fisheries, forestry, infrastructure, and fossil fuels are examples of industries that need to be changed for sustainability. It is mainstreaming biodiversity that addresses the root causes in such sectors as reported here of nature’s decline.
Transform Economic Systems for Nature and Equity: The report advises a shift of economic systems away from damaging subsidies and to channel investment toward biodiversity protection. It also puts in the foreground the funding gap of the current biodiversity conservation budget at $135 billion a year against the estimated annual sum required to manage biodiversity sustainably, which is $722 to $967 billion.
This shows that there is a need for inclusive, accountable, and adaptive governance systems. An example is the use of ecosystem-based spatial management of the Galapagos Marine Reserve, which has successfully supported sustainable fisheries and tourism simultaneously to both support and benefit local communities as well as the environment.
Encourage human-nature relatedness: Human relationship to nature is a deeper heart of biodiversity protection. The IPBES, therefore calls upon education, awareness, and cooperation that brings together indigenous, local, and scientific knowledge to foster transformation change.
Challenges on Biodiversity Protection
Other than listing various challenges towards transformative change, the report has pointed out several challenges towards transformative change. Some of them are; first, the colonial legacy that has resulted in inequalities in the economic and political spheres, unsustainable consumption patterns, and lack of clean technologies. The IPBES stresses collective action by governments, civil society, indigenous peoples, and the private sector.
Governments are advised to provide policy coherence, strengthen the regulations, and enhance international cooperation. However, mismatched political timelines and institutional silos remain as obstacles to effective action in the report.
Conclusion:IPBES calls for immediate action concerning what causes biodiversity loss and establishes a just and sustainable future to come. While the report outlines critical strategies for transformations in various sectors, its clear message is that only by swift and coordinated efforts may avoid any irreversible damage to ecosystems along with the services they protect. The Transformative Change Report serves as a reminder that the window for reversing biodiversity loss is closing, and the time to act is now; it calls for collective actions by governments, industries, and individuals.
Source: IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services)