TREND 01
2020 will go down in history as the year when the links between climate, biodiversity and human health were made abundantly clear.
The urgency of controlling biodiversity loss is now as obvious as the need to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emis- sions. Commissioned by the UK Treasury and published in February, the Dasgupta review of the economics of biodiversity observes that societies have collectively failed to manage nature sustainably, and that transforming our institutions and organisations is imperative to ensure that
Protecting biodiversity: where major challenges for humanity come together -
our demands on nature do not exceed its capacity to fulfil them. This is why the next United Nations biodiversity confer- ence, known as COP15, which will be held in China at the end of 2021, is expected to lead to an international agreement on biodiversity protection on the same scale as the COP21 climate agreement.
Biodiversity is also threatened by climate change, as shown by the megafires that struck huge areas of Australia, Cal- ifornia, Siberia and the Amazon in 2020. These fires, which are likely to multiply according to scientific projections, cause huge population displacement and have a catastrophic impact on hundreds of animal and plant species.
Another phenomenon associated with the impact of human activities is the contin- uing thawing of permafrost observed in summer 2020 in Alaska and northern Russia. This extreme phenomenon also heightens environmental and health risks, as this soil layer contains enor- mous quantities of CO2, methane and viruses that could potentially be danger- ous to humanity.
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Sources: IPBES, Swiss Re, CBO
Building truly sustainable economic growth and development requires us to recognise that our long-term prosperity
depends on a rebalancing of our demands for natural goods and services with nature s capacity to deliver them. Covid-19 shows us what happens when
we fail to respect this balance. Extract from the Dasgupta review (2021)
55% of global GDP ($41,700 billion) depends on the
functioning of biodiversity and ecosystem services
69 countries have adopted national strategies and action plans
to protect biodiversity
1,000,000 animal and plant species are currently
at risk of extinction
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