How bad is the loss of biodiversity and destruction of ecosystems?

Biodiversity is declining dramatically worldwide. Although animals and plants have always been extinct, the current rate of global species loss due to human activity is 100 to 1000 times higher than assumed natural levels, according to scientists. On average, one species disappears from Earth every ten minutes. According to the World Biodiversity Council, one million of an estimated eight million species are threatened with extinction. According to estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 75 percent of all cultivated plants have disappeared in the past 100 years. In addition, a forest area of 13 million hectares is destroyed every year – that is three times the size of Switzerland.

What does the loss of biodiversity mean for us humans?

With the loss of biological diversity and the destruction of ecosystems, the livelihoods of mankind are shrinking. Natural habitats provide food and drinking water, provide fibers for clothing and raw materials for medicines, provide protection from storms and floods, and regulate the climate. We are talking about so-called ecosystem services.

Their economic value is estimated by the international conservation organization IUCN at 16 to 64 trillion US dollars per year. Studies show that more than half of the world’s gross domestic product is highly or moderately dependent on nature. Since the outbreak of the corona pandemic, the connection between interventions in ecosystems and the outbreak of infectious diseases has also come into focus.

What is the World Conference on Nature about?

To put it briefly and pathetically: the conference wants to lay the foundations for humanity to be able to live “in harmony with nature” in the future. That’s what the draft agreement says. In order for this to succeed, 22 goals are to be set for the period up to 2030 on how species and ecosystems can be preserved and nature can be used sustainably and fairly. Among other things, the aim is to protect at least 30 percent of all land and sea areas, to significantly reduce plastic pollution and to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture.

One of the main points of contention is the question of access to genetic resources and the participation of the countries of origin in the Global South in the profits from the genetic information. The framework agreement that is now being negotiated is not the first plan to save nature: in 2009 the 20 “Aichi goals” were formulated. However, not one of them was fully achieved in the target year 2020. The implementation and review of measures should therefore play a greater role in the follow-up agreement.

How did the preliminary negotiations for the planned agreement go?

Very tough and sluggish. The planned framework agreement was actually supposed to be passed in Kunming, China, in 2020. This did not happen because of the corona pandemic. In order for the agreement to be adopted later this year, it was finally agreed to hold the conference from December 7th to 19th this year in Montreal, where the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity is based. The presidency is still held by China. Observers say the Chinese government has not pushed ahead with efforts to reach an ambitious framework agreement. Despite additional working sessions, there are still disputes about almost all 22 goals. A major reason for this are conflicts between the countries of the Global North and the developing countries.