Politics
How fast is biodiversity declining globally?
What is the context?
Decades of conservation efforts have failed to prevent a dramatic loss of biodiversity around the world
- Vertebrate populations have fallen by three-quarters since the 1970s
- The decline in biodiversity is more pronounced in Latin America and the Caribbean
- Governments continue to subsidize destructive economies
RIO DE JANEIRO – The natural environment is crucial to human life on the planet, from protection against disease to the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat.
But despite decades of conservation efforts, biodiversity continues to decline rapidly.
Vertebrate populations such as monkeys, fish, birds and giraffes decreased by 73% on average between 1970 and 2020, shows a new WWF report.
This month, countries will meet in Cali, Colombia, for the UN's COP16 biodiversity negotiations, aimed at accelerating action to curb the destruction of nature.
What is biodiversity and why is it important?
“Biodiversity” refers to the many dimensions of life's variability, from genetic diversity among living things to differences between species and ecosystems, such as forests and grasslands.
Biodiversity supports human life on earth, allowing ecosystems to remain productive and resilient, providing services such as pollination, water purification, a stable climate and food.
As species disappear, roles such as flower pollination and nutrient cycling are no longer carried out. This in turn leads to further loss of biodiversity and increased vulnerability of ecosystems.
Biodiversity loss also harms the ability of ecosystems to absorb planet-warming carbon, which is essential to combating the climate crisis.
How fast has biodiversity declined?
Biodiversity loss is the result of issues such as the conversion of natural areas to development or farms, the introduction of invasive species and climate change.
The WWF report measures biodiversity through The Living Planet Index (LPI), which tracks changes in the relative abundance of 34,836 populations of 5,495 species living on land, in rivers, lakes and at sea.
Species in terrestrial ecosystems like forests and grasslands declined by 69% on average, while marine species declined by 56%, with intensively fished populations like sharks and rays declining more sharply.
Freshwater species, threatened by the fragmentation of their habitats by dams blocking migration routes, have suffered the greatest population decline, at 85%.
Where has biodiversity been lost?
The rate of biodiversity loss differs across the world.
The fastest rate of decline was recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a 95% decrease since 1970 due to the rapid conversion of natural areas to agricultural operations, as well as the impacts of climate change, the report said. of the WWF.
In 2023, more than 330 river dolphins have died in just two Amazonian lakes, the report says, with other deaths being recorded this year.
Species populations have declined by an average of 76% in Africa, by 60% in Asia and the Pacific, by 39% in North America, and by 35% in Europe and Central Asia – where great loss of biodiversity had already took place before 1970.
What are the future risks for nature and biodiversity?
Many crucial global ecosystems are reaching a tipping point at which biodiversity loss could accelerate.
Since 2023, the Amazon has suffered the worst drought on record, with scientists warning that climate change and the continued conversion of natural areas to agricultural land could push the forest beyond a tipping point at which it would transform into a degraded savannah-like ecosystem.
Rising sea temperatures and ecosystem degradation will likely destroy between 70 and 90 percent of all coral reefs worldwide, even if temperatures are kept below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit), according to the WWF report.
How can the world stop biodiversity loss?
In December 2022, countries agreed on a global framework for biodiversity during the UN COP15 negotiations in Montreal to stem nature's decline. At the next COP16 in Colombia, countries will be invited to accelerate its implementation.
The agreement includes an objective of protect 30% of the world's land and seas by 2030, rapidly increase funding for nature protection and restoration, and reform government subsidies that destroy nature.
Governments spend more than $2.6 trillion each year on subsidies that harm the environmentsuch as fossil fuels and agricultural subsidies, according to a report released last month by the think tank Earth Track.
(Reporting by André Cabette Fabio; editing by Jon Hemming.)
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