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| Image: Deforestation in Indonesian to make way for a palm oil concession. |
Stop biodiversity loss or we could face our own extinction,
warns UN
The Age of Extinction
The world has two years to secure a deal for nature to halt
a ‘silent killer’ as dangerous as climate change, says biodiversity chief
Jonathan Watts
Tue 6 Nov 2018 13.47 GMT First published on Sat 3 Nov 2018
06.00 GMT
Image: Deforestation in Indonesian to make way for a palm
oil concession.
The world must thrash out a new deal for nature in the next
two years or humanity could be the first species to document our own extinction,
warns the United Nation’s biodiversity chief.
Ahead of a key international conference to discuss the
collapse of ecosystems, Cristiana Pașca Palmer said people in all countries
need to put pressure on their governments to draw up ambitious global targets
by 2020 to protect the insects, birds, plants and mammals that are vital for
global food production, clean water and carbon sequestration.
“The loss of biodiversity is a silent killer,” she told the
Guardian. “It’s different from climate change, where people feel the impact in
everyday life. With biodiversity, it is not so clear but by the time you feel
what is happening, it may be too late.”
Pașca Palmer is executive secretary of the UN Convention on
Biological Diversity – the world body responsible for maintaining the natural
life support systems on which humanity depends.
Its members – 195 states and the EU – will meet in Sharm el
Sheikh, Egypt, this month to start discussions on a new framework for managing
the world’s ecosystems and wildlife. This will kick off two years of frenetic
negotiations, which Pașca Palmer hopes will culminate in an ambitious new
global deal at the next conference in Beijing in 2020.
Conservationists are desperate for a biodiversity accord
that will carry the same weight as the Paris climate agreement. But so far,
this subject has received miserably little attention even though many
scientists say it poses at least an equal threat to humanity.
The last two major biodiversity agreements – in 2002 and
2010 – have failed to stem the worst loss of life on Earth since the demise of
the dinosaurs.
Eight years ago, under the Aichi Biodiversity Targets,
nations promised to at least halve the loss of natural habitats, ensure
sustainable fishing in all waters, and expand nature reserves from 10% to 17%
of the world’s land by 2020. But many nations have fallen behind, and those
that have created more protected areas have done little to police them. “Paper
reserves” can now be found from Brazil to China.
The issue is also low on the political agenda. Compared to
climate summits, few heads of state attend biodiversity talks. Even before
Donald Trump, the US refused to ratify the treaty and only sends an observer.
Along with the Vatican, it is the only UN state not to participate.
Pașca Palmer says there are glimmers of hope. Several species
in Africa and Asia have recovered (though most are in decline) and forest cover
in Asia has increased by 2.5% (though it has decreased elsewhere at a faster
rate). Marine protected areas have also widened.
But overall, she says, the picture is worrying. The already
high rates of biodiversity loss from habitat destruction, chemical pollution
and invasive species will accelerate in the coming 30 years as a result of
climate change and growing human populations. By 2050, Africa is expected to
lose 50% of its birds and mammals, and Asian fisheries to completely collapse.
The loss of plants and sea life will reduce the Earth’s ability to absorb
carbon, creating a vicious cycle.
“The numbers are
staggering,” says the former Romanian environment minister. “I hope we aren’t
the first species to document our own extinction.”
Despite the weak government response to such an existential
threat, she said her optimism about what she called “the infrastructure of
life” was undimmed.
One cause for hope was a convergence of scientific concerns
and growing interest from the business community. Last month, the UN’s top
climate and biodiversity institutions and scientists held their first joint
meeting. They found that nature-based solutions – such as forest protection,
tree planting, land restoration and soil management – could provide up to a
third of the carbon absorption needed to keep global warming within the Paris
agreement parameters. In future the two UN arms of climate and biodiversity
should issue joint assessments. She also noted that although politics in some
countries were moving in the wrong direction, there were also positive
developments such as French president, Emmanuel Macron, recently being the
first world leader to note that the climate issue cannot be solved without a
halt in biodiversity loss. This will be on the agenda of the next G7 summit in
France.
“Things are moving. There is a lot of goodwill,” she said.
“We should be aware of the dangers but not paralysed by inaction. It’s still in
our hands but the window for action is narrowing. We need higher levels of
political and citizen will to support nature.”
• This article was amended on 6 November 2018 to correct a
few errors: Cristiana Paşca Palmer is executive secretary, not executive
director, of the CBD; the CBD’s members are 195 states and the EU, not 196
states; the original article referred to the Aichi Protocol when it should have
referred to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
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