Global Biodiversity Outlook

The third update of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO) has just been published, and makes sober reading. Here are some of the highlights, collated by Tara Garnett from the Food & Cimate Research Network:

GBO-3 finds that the target agreed by the world’s Governments in 2002, “to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth”, has not been met.

The Outlook warns that natural systems that support economies, lives and livelihoods across the planet are at risk of rapid degradation and collapse, unless there is swift, radical and creative action to conserve and sustainably use the variety of life on Earth.  It says that we may be at risk of reaching ‘tipping points’ after which  ecosystems shift to alternative, less productive states from which it may be difficult or impossible to recover.

Potential tipping points analyzed for GBO-3 include:

• The dieback of large areas of the Amazon forest,.

The Outlook argues, however, that such outcomes are avoidable if effective and coordinated action is taken to reduce the multiple pressures being imposed on biodiversity.

The document notes that the linked challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change must be addressed by policymakers with equal priority and in close co-ordination, if the most severe impacts of each are to be avoided. Conserving biodiversity and the ecosystems it underpins can help to store more carbon, reducing further build-up of greenhouse gases; and people will be better able to adapt to unavoidable climate change if ecosystems are made more resilient with the easing of other pressures.

The Outlook outlines a possible new strategy for reducing biodiversity loss which includes addressing the underlying causes or indirect drivers of biodiversity loss, such as patterns of consumption, the impacts of increased trade and demographic change. Ending harmful subsidies would also be an important step.  On p75 it has this to say about consumption: “Alleviating pressure from land use changes in the tropics is essential, if the negative impacts of loss of terrestrial biodiversity and associated ecosystem services are to be minimized. This involves a combination of measures, including an increase in productivityfrom existing crop and pasture lands, reducing post-harvest losses, sustainable forest management and moderating excessive and wasteful meat consumption.”

GBO-3 concludes that we can no longer see the continued loss of biodiversity as an issue separate from the core concerns of society. Realizing objectives such as tackling poverty and improving the health, wealth and security of present and future generations will be greatly strengthened if we finally give biodiversity the priority it deserves.  It says that for a fraction of the money summoned up instantly by the world’s governments in 2008-9 to avoid economic meltdown, we can avoid a much more serious and fundamental breakdown in the Earth’s life support systems.

1. Global Biodiversity Outlook 3 published

The Convention on Global Biodiversity has published its third and extremly depressing assessment – Global Biodiversity Outlook 3 – of the current state of biodiversity.

It finds that the target agreed by the world’s Governments in 2002, “to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth”, has not been met.

The Outlook warns that natural systems that support economies, lives and livelihoods across the planet are at risk of rapid degradation and collapse, unless there is swift, radical and creative action to conserve and sustainably use the variety of life on Earth.  It says that we may be at risk of reaching ‘tipping points’ after which  ecosystems shift to alternative, less productive states from which it may be difficult or impossible to recover.

Potential tipping points analyzed for GBO-3 include:

• The dieback of large areas of the Amazon forest,.

The Outlook argues, however, that such outcomes are avoidable if effective and coordinated action is taken to reduce the multiple pressures being imposed on biodiversity.

The document notes that the linked challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change must be addressed by policymakers with equal priority and in close co-ordination, if the most severe impacts of each are to be avoided. Conserving biodiversity and the ecosystems it underpins can help to store more carbon, reducing further build-up of greenhouse gases; and people will be better able to adapt to unavoidable climate change if ecosystems are made more resilient with the easing of other pressures.

The Outlook outlines a possible new strategy for reducing biodiversity loss which includes addressing the underlying causes or indirect drivers of biodiversity loss, such as patterns of consumption, the impacts of increased trade and demographic change. Ending harmful subsidies would also be an important step.  On p75 it has this to say about consumption: “Alleviating pressure from land use changes in the tropics is essential, if the negative impacts of loss of terrestrial biodiversity and associated ecosystem services are to be minimized. This involves a combination of measures, including an increase in productivityfrom existing crop and pasture lands, reducing post-harvest losses, sustainable forest management and moderating excessive and wasteful meat consumption.”

GBO-3 concludes that we can no longer see the continued loss of biodiversity as an issue separate from the core concerns of society. Realizing objectives such as tackling poverty and improving the health, wealth and security of present and future generations will be greatly strengthened if we finally give biodiversity the priority it deserves.  It says that for a fraction of the money summoned up instantly by the world’s governments in 2008-9 to avoid economic meltdown, we can avoid a much more serious and fundamental breakdown in the Earth’s life support systems.

GBO-3 sets out a number of elements that could be considered in a future strategy to reduce biodiversity loss. The elements include:

• Continued and intensified direct intervention to reduce loss of biodiversity, for example through expanding and strengthening protected areas, and programmes targeted at vulnerable species and habitats
•    Continued and intensified measures to reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity, such as preventing nutrient pollution, cutting off the pathways for introduction alien invasive species, and introducing more sustainable practices in fisheries, forestry and agriculture
• Much greater efficiency in the use of land, energy, fresh water and materials to meet growing demand from a rising and more prosperous population.
• Use of market incentives, and avoidance of perverse subsidies, to minimize unsustainable resource use and wasteful consumption.
• Strategic planning to reconcile development with the conservation of biodiversity and the maintenance of the multiple services provided by the ecosystems it underpins.
• Restoration of ecosystems to safeguard essential services to human societies, while recognizing that protecting existing ecosystems is generally much more cost-effective than allowing them to degrade in the first place
• Ensuring that the benefits arising from use of and access to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, for example through the development of drugs and cosmetics, are equitably shared with the countries and cultures from which they are obtained.
• Communication, education and awareness-raising to ensure that as far as possible, everyone understands the value of biodiversity and what steps they can take to protect it, including through changes in personal consumption and behavior.