UN Report: Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’

A landmark new report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)was published. 

The summary of this report was approved at the 7th session of the IPBES Plenary, which was meeting in Paris on 29 April. 

The overwhelming evidence of the IPBES Global Assessment, which comes from a wide variety of diverse fields of expertise, offers a picture that is worrisome, said Sir Robert Watson, the chair of the IPBES. 

The state of the ecosystems, of which we and every other species are dependent, is degrading at an alarmingly rapid rate. 

We are destroying the very basis upon which our economy, means of subsistence, food security, health, and quality of life are built all across the world.

The member states of IPBES Plenary have now accepted that, by its very nature, transformative change might expect pushback from those with interests vested in the status quo, said Watson.

However, such opposition can be overcome for the greater good of the public.

The IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services is the report that has been deemed to be the most exhaustive ever compiled.

It is the first report of its sort to be produced by multiple governments and builds on the seminal Millennium Ecosystem Assessment completed in 2005.

It also introduces novel approaches to the evaluation of evidence.

The UN report on biodiversity

The report examined the rate of decline in biodiversity and found that the negative effects of human activities on the world’s species is unprecedented in human history:

one million species, including 40 percent of amphibians, almost a third of reef-building corals, more than a third of marine mammals, and 10 percent of all insects are threatened with extinction. 

The report also found that the negative effects of human activities on the world’s species is unprecedented in human history. 

The factors that have led to the extinction of these species include, in descending order, the following: 

(1) shifts in land and sea use

(2) direct exploitation of creatures

(3) climatic change

(4) pollution

(5) invading alien species.

There have been at least 680 species of vertebrates that have gone extinct since the 16th century.

By the year 2016, more than nine percent of mammalian livestock breeds have been extinct, and a further one thousand breeds face the possibility of going extinct.

The authors have come up with the phrase dead species walking to refer to the more than 500,000 species that are not yet extinct

but have little possibility of long-term survival as a result of changes in their habitats or a decline in the size of their habitats.

The total biomass of wild mammals has dropped by 82%,

while the biomass of people and their domesticated animals has increased to make up 96% of all mammalian biomass on Earth.

In addition, the amount of land needed for human settlements across the globe has more than doubled since 1992, and as a result of human activity, 23 percent of the land on Earth has become biologically degraded and is no longer usable.

It is generally agreed that industrial farming is one of the primary factors responsible for this reduction.

It is estimated that approximately 25 percent of the area that is not covered in ice is being used for the purpose of raising livestock for human consumption.

Biodiversity decline

A decline in the number of species within an ecosystem, on Earth as a whole, in a specific geographic region, or within an individual ecosystem. 

Biodiversity, also known as biological diversity, is a term that refers to the number of genes, species, individual organisms within a given species, and biological communities that are found within a specific geographical area. 

This can be anything from the smallest ecosystem to the global biosphere.

(A biological community is defined as an interactive group of different species living in the same region.) 

This reduction in the number of different species present in an area might result in a disruption in the ecosystem’s ability to carry out its primary functions.

However, if we just associate the loss of biodiversity with the disappearance of species, we are ignoring other more subtle phenomena that pose a risk to the health of ecosystems over the long run.

It’s possible that sudden population decreases could disrupt social structures in certain species, making it difficult for surviving men and females to locate partners. 

This could lead to additional population declines as a result.

Causes of decreased biodiversity

Recent years have seen a startling acceleration in the rate of biodiversity loss, which may be attributed, in large part, to the actions of humans. 

Let’s have a look at some of the primary reasons for this:

• Changes in the climate

The effects of climate change on biodiversity can be seen at many different levels, including species distribution, population dynamics, community structure, and the functioning of ecosystems.

• Pollution

When we think about pollution, it’s likely that images of car exhaust fumes billowing into the air come to mind. 

However, this kind of pollution isn’t the only kind that has an effect on biodiversity; noise pollution and light pollution also have an effect.

• Destruction of natural environments

Both the contamination of soil and the alteration of its uses as a result of human actions such as deforestation have a detrimental effect on ecosystems and the species that comprise them.

• An excessive demand placed on the natural environment.

The overexploitation of natural resources, which can be defined as the consumption of those resources at a rate that is faster than the rate at which they can naturally regenerate, has a clear influence on the plant and animal life of the planet.

Conclusion

The Report cautioned that society should not become obsessed with economic growth and that countries should build their economy on an awareness that nature is the foundation for prosperity.

The report urged nations to begin concentrating on restoring habitats, growing food on less land, eliminating illegal logging and fishing, conserving marine areas, and stopping the flow of heavy metals and wastewater into the environment.

It also recommends that nations lessen their support for industries that are bad for the environment and boost their funding for programmes that are good for the environment while decreasing their support for environmentally damaging industries.

Restoring the sovereignty of indigenous people all around the world is another suggestion that has been made, given that the rates of biodiversity loss on their lands have been lower.

In addition to this, it brought to light the necessity for modifications in individual behaviours, such as decreasing one’s consumption of meat.