Can man still reverse the decline of nature and the extinction of species? In recent years, the living environment has deteriorated at an unprecedented rate due to deforestation, overfishing, pollution and climate change. Animal and plant species are dying out at an increased rate. Besides an irreversible loss in itself, the disruption and loss of ecosystems ultimately also means a crisis for humans, who depend on them for their food, fresh water and clean air.
As with climate change, that other major threat, the UN is organizing an international consultation on this loss of biodiversity, which dates back to the famous Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Almost all countries in the world participate in this Convention of Biological Diversity. This week the fifteenth edition will be held in the Chinese city of Kunming. In a largely digital meeting, the old goals that were agreed in 2010 in Aichi, Japan, for 2020, will be evaluated. The goals for 2030 will also be discussed. Next year, at the end of April 2022, they will be recorded at a live conference in Kunming.
The outcome of the evaluation of the old ‘Aichi goals’ is already certain. Report published at the end of last year Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 it is coldly established that most of them have not been achieved and a few have only been partially achieved. Those goals amounted to less threat to biodiversity and more protection of ecosystems.
Even the realistic goals have barely started in ten years
Three-quarters of the natural areas on land and two-thirds of the world’s oceans have now been affected by humans, according to a 1,800-page report by the United Nations Scientific Biodiversity Panel (IPBES) from May 2019. Last year, Swiss reinsurer Swiss Re stated. in a report that a fifth of countries will experience ecological collapse if biodiversity continues to decline.
Also read: ‘Kunming’ must become to biodiversity what ‘Paris’ is to the climate
It makes the world in Kunming want to further increase its ambitions, is apparent from the draft agreement: By 2030, as much as 30 percent of land and water surface should be protected, pesticide use should be reduced by two thirds, food waste halved. Subsidies that promote the destruction of nature, such as for mining, felling trees, fossil fuels or intensive agriculture, must also be substantially reduced. The accelerated extinction of species must be stopped, or at least reduced. Another goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10 gigatons per year through ecosystem restoration, such as planting trees.
Difficult to implement
According to the Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 report, the main problem with the 2010 goals was simple: they were too vague, making implementation and evaluation difficult. Even the more or less realistic goals have barely begun in ten years.
Also in 2010, it was already a target that by 2020 no more rewards and subsidies would be provided that could harm biodiversity. Nothing came of it, according to Outlook 5. Overfishing and deforestation are therefore still being stimulated with government money.
Some goals from 2010 were impossible anyway. “One of these was, for example, that the entire agriculture had to be made more sustainable. That is not a goal that can be achieved with biodiversity policy alone,” says Marcel Kok, who is closely involved in the biodiversity treaties from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.
There was also a lack of concrete target figures, which do exist in the Paris Agreement on the climate, with the limit of 2 degrees temperature increase. As a result, in the Biodiversity Convention, “countries were not held accountable enough for their individual responsibility”, according to Kok.
While some goals are more measurable in Kunming’s draft statement, it is again unclear how countries will achieve them.
Not only environmental organizations are concerned. Eleven major companies, including clothing company H&M and food concern Unilever, called the Biodiversity Summit Monday in an open letter the “last chance” to turn the tide. They also call Kunming’s draft goals for the next ten years “too vague”. They say they fear “a dead planet”.
Also read: ‘Kunming’ must become to biodiversity what ‘Paris’ is to the climate
Countries will further negotiate the targets in the coming months. Kok: „It is important that countries do not go ‘shopping’ between the goals. For example, if you take good care of your national diversity of species, but at the same time invest in non-sustainable projects abroad, you are still acting irresponsibly.”
A major problem in biodiversity protection is measurability. Because where in climate science the atmospheric content of CO2 and other greenhouse gases can be used as an indicator, there is no such single global indicator for the multifaceted and complex decline in biodiversity.
The exact implementation of ‘Kunming’ will therefore still be much discussed. Kok: “You can take that 30 percent protection of the land and sea surface very strictly, by only looking at real nature reserves. But you can also see it more broadly: that nature-friendly agriculture also counts, for example. Then we in the Netherlands are already a lot closer to the target value.”
A version of this article also appeared in NRC in the morning of October 12, 2021
Can man still reverse the decline of nature and the extinction of species? In recent years, the living environment has deteriorated at an unprecedented rate due to deforestation, overfishing, pollution and climate change. Animal and plant species are dying out at an increased rate. Besides an irreversible loss in itself, the disruption and loss of ecosystems ultimately also means a crisis for humans, who depend on them for their food, fresh water and clean air.
As with climate change, that other major threat, the UN is organizing an international consultation on this loss of biodiversity, which dates back to the famous Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Almost all countries in the world participate in this Convention of Biological Diversity. This week the fifteenth edition will be held in the Chinese city of Kunming. In a largely digital meeting, the old goals that were agreed in 2010 in Aichi, Japan, for 2020, will be evaluated. The goals for 2030 will also be discussed. Next year, at the end of April 2022, they will be recorded at a live conference in Kunming.
The outcome of the evaluation of the old ‘Aichi goals’ is already certain. Report published at the end of last year Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 it is coldly established that most of them have not been achieved and a few have only been partially achieved. Those goals amounted to less threat to biodiversity and more protection of ecosystems.
Even the realistic goals have barely started in ten years
Three-quarters of the natural areas on land and two-thirds of the world’s oceans have now been affected by humans, according to a 1,800-page report by the United Nations Scientific Biodiversity Panel (IPBES) from May 2019. Last year, Swiss reinsurer Swiss Re stated. in a report that a fifth of countries will experience ecological collapse if biodiversity continues to decline.
Also read: ‘Kunming’ must become to biodiversity what ‘Paris’ is to the climate
It makes the world in Kunming want to further increase its ambitions, is apparent from the draft agreement: By 2030, as much as 30 percent of land and water surface should be protected, pesticide use should be reduced by two thirds, food waste halved. Subsidies that promote the destruction of nature, such as for mining, felling trees, fossil fuels or intensive agriculture, must also be substantially reduced. The accelerated extinction of species must be stopped, or at least reduced. Another goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10 gigatons per year through ecosystem restoration, such as planting trees.
Difficult to implement
According to the Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 report, the main problem with the 2010 goals was simple: they were too vague, making implementation and evaluation difficult. Even the more or less realistic goals have barely begun in ten years.
Also in 2010, it was already a target that by 2020 no more rewards and subsidies would be provided that could harm biodiversity. Nothing came of it, according to Outlook 5. Overfishing and deforestation are therefore still being stimulated with government money.
Some goals from 2010 were impossible anyway. “One of these was, for example, that the entire agriculture had to be made more sustainable. That is not a goal that can be achieved with biodiversity policy alone,” says Marcel Kok, who is closely involved in the biodiversity treaties from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.
There was also a lack of concrete target figures, which do exist in the Paris Agreement on the climate, with the limit of 2 degrees temperature increase. As a result, in the Biodiversity Convention, “countries were not held accountable enough for their individual responsibility”, according to Kok.
While some goals are more measurable in Kunming’s draft statement, it is again unclear how countries will achieve them.
Not only environmental organizations are concerned. Eleven major companies, including clothing company H&M and food concern Unilever, called the Biodiversity Summit Monday in an open letter the “last chance” to turn the tide. They also call Kunming’s draft goals for the next ten years “too vague”. They say they fear “a dead planet”.
Also read: ‘Kunming’ must become to biodiversity what ‘Paris’ is to the climate
Countries will further negotiate the targets in the coming months. Kok: „It is important that countries do not go ‘shopping’ between the goals. For example, if you take good care of your national diversity of species, but at the same time invest in non-sustainable projects abroad, you are still acting irresponsibly.”
A major problem in biodiversity protection is measurability. Because where in climate science the atmospheric content of CO2 and other greenhouse gases can be used as an indicator, there is no such single global indicator for the multifaceted and complex decline in biodiversity.
The exact implementation of ‘Kunming’ will therefore still be much discussed. Kok: “You can take that 30 percent protection of the land and sea surface very strictly, by only looking at real nature reserves. But you can also see it more broadly: that nature-friendly agriculture also counts, for example. Then we in the Netherlands are already a lot closer to the target value.”
A version of this article also appeared in NRC in the morning of October 12, 2021
Can man still reverse the decline of nature and the extinction of species? In recent years, the living environment has deteriorated at an unprecedented rate due to deforestation, overfishing, pollution and climate change. Animal and plant species are dying out at an increased rate. Besides an irreversible loss in itself, the disruption and loss of ecosystems ultimately also means a crisis for humans, who depend on them for their food, fresh water and clean air.
As with climate change, that other major threat, the UN is organizing an international consultation on this loss of biodiversity, which dates back to the famous Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Almost all countries in the world participate in this Convention of Biological Diversity. This week the fifteenth edition will be held in the Chinese city of Kunming. In a largely digital meeting, the old goals that were agreed in 2010 in Aichi, Japan, for 2020, will be evaluated. The goals for 2030 will also be discussed. Next year, at the end of April 2022, they will be recorded at a live conference in Kunming.
The outcome of the evaluation of the old ‘Aichi goals’ is already certain. Report published at the end of last year Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 it is coldly established that most of them have not been achieved and a few have only been partially achieved. Those goals amounted to less threat to biodiversity and more protection of ecosystems.
Even the realistic goals have barely started in ten years
Three-quarters of the natural areas on land and two-thirds of the world’s oceans have now been affected by humans, according to a 1,800-page report by the United Nations Scientific Biodiversity Panel (IPBES) from May 2019. Last year, Swiss reinsurer Swiss Re stated. in a report that a fifth of countries will experience ecological collapse if biodiversity continues to decline.
Also read: ‘Kunming’ must become to biodiversity what ‘Paris’ is to the climate
It makes the world in Kunming want to further increase its ambitions, is apparent from the draft agreement: By 2030, as much as 30 percent of land and water surface should be protected, pesticide use should be reduced by two thirds, food waste halved. Subsidies that promote the destruction of nature, such as for mining, felling trees, fossil fuels or intensive agriculture, must also be substantially reduced. The accelerated extinction of species must be stopped, or at least reduced. Another goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10 gigatons per year through ecosystem restoration, such as planting trees.
Difficult to implement
According to the Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 report, the main problem with the 2010 goals was simple: they were too vague, making implementation and evaluation difficult. Even the more or less realistic goals have barely begun in ten years.
Also in 2010, it was already a target that by 2020 no more rewards and subsidies would be provided that could harm biodiversity. Nothing came of it, according to Outlook 5. Overfishing and deforestation are therefore still being stimulated with government money.
Some goals from 2010 were impossible anyway. “One of these was, for example, that the entire agriculture had to be made more sustainable. That is not a goal that can be achieved with biodiversity policy alone,” says Marcel Kok, who is closely involved in the biodiversity treaties from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.
There was also a lack of concrete target figures, which do exist in the Paris Agreement on the climate, with the limit of 2 degrees temperature increase. As a result, in the Biodiversity Convention, “countries were not held accountable enough for their individual responsibility”, according to Kok.
While some goals are more measurable in Kunming’s draft statement, it is again unclear how countries will achieve them.
Not only environmental organizations are concerned. Eleven major companies, including clothing company H&M and food concern Unilever, called the Biodiversity Summit Monday in an open letter the “last chance” to turn the tide. They also call Kunming’s draft goals for the next ten years “too vague”. They say they fear “a dead planet”.
Also read: ‘Kunming’ must become to biodiversity what ‘Paris’ is to the climate
Countries will further negotiate the targets in the coming months. Kok: „It is important that countries do not go ‘shopping’ between the goals. For example, if you take good care of your national diversity of species, but at the same time invest in non-sustainable projects abroad, you are still acting irresponsibly.”
A major problem in biodiversity protection is measurability. Because where in climate science the atmospheric content of CO2 and other greenhouse gases can be used as an indicator, there is no such single global indicator for the multifaceted and complex decline in biodiversity.
The exact implementation of ‘Kunming’ will therefore still be much discussed. Kok: “You can take that 30 percent protection of the land and sea surface very strictly, by only looking at real nature reserves. But you can also see it more broadly: that nature-friendly agriculture also counts, for example. Then we in the Netherlands are already a lot closer to the target value.”
A version of this article also appeared in NRC in the morning of October 12, 2021
Can man still reverse the decline of nature and the extinction of species? In recent years, the living environment has deteriorated at an unprecedented rate due to deforestation, overfishing, pollution and climate change. Animal and plant species are dying out at an increased rate. Besides an irreversible loss in itself, the disruption and loss of ecosystems ultimately also means a crisis for humans, who depend on them for their food, fresh water and clean air.
As with climate change, that other major threat, the UN is organizing an international consultation on this loss of biodiversity, which dates back to the famous Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Almost all countries in the world participate in this Convention of Biological Diversity. This week the fifteenth edition will be held in the Chinese city of Kunming. In a largely digital meeting, the old goals that were agreed in 2010 in Aichi, Japan, for 2020, will be evaluated. The goals for 2030 will also be discussed. Next year, at the end of April 2022, they will be recorded at a live conference in Kunming.
The outcome of the evaluation of the old ‘Aichi goals’ is already certain. Report published at the end of last year Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 it is coldly established that most of them have not been achieved and a few have only been partially achieved. Those goals amounted to less threat to biodiversity and more protection of ecosystems.
Even the realistic goals have barely started in ten years
Three-quarters of the natural areas on land and two-thirds of the world’s oceans have now been affected by humans, according to a 1,800-page report by the United Nations Scientific Biodiversity Panel (IPBES) from May 2019. Last year, Swiss reinsurer Swiss Re stated. in a report that a fifth of countries will experience ecological collapse if biodiversity continues to decline.
Also read: ‘Kunming’ must become to biodiversity what ‘Paris’ is to the climate
It makes the world in Kunming want to further increase its ambitions, is apparent from the draft agreement: By 2030, as much as 30 percent of land and water surface should be protected, pesticide use should be reduced by two thirds, food waste halved. Subsidies that promote the destruction of nature, such as for mining, felling trees, fossil fuels or intensive agriculture, must also be substantially reduced. The accelerated extinction of species must be stopped, or at least reduced. Another goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10 gigatons per year through ecosystem restoration, such as planting trees.
Difficult to implement
According to the Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 report, the main problem with the 2010 goals was simple: they were too vague, making implementation and evaluation difficult. Even the more or less realistic goals have barely begun in ten years.
Also in 2010, it was already a target that by 2020 no more rewards and subsidies would be provided that could harm biodiversity. Nothing came of it, according to Outlook 5. Overfishing and deforestation are therefore still being stimulated with government money.
Some goals from 2010 were impossible anyway. “One of these was, for example, that the entire agriculture had to be made more sustainable. That is not a goal that can be achieved with biodiversity policy alone,” says Marcel Kok, who is closely involved in the biodiversity treaties from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.
There was also a lack of concrete target figures, which do exist in the Paris Agreement on the climate, with the limit of 2 degrees temperature increase. As a result, in the Biodiversity Convention, “countries were not held accountable enough for their individual responsibility”, according to Kok.
While some goals are more measurable in Kunming’s draft statement, it is again unclear how countries will achieve them.
Not only environmental organizations are concerned. Eleven major companies, including clothing company H&M and food concern Unilever, called the Biodiversity Summit Monday in an open letter the “last chance” to turn the tide. They also call Kunming’s draft goals for the next ten years “too vague”. They say they fear “a dead planet”.
Also read: ‘Kunming’ must become to biodiversity what ‘Paris’ is to the climate
Countries will further negotiate the targets in the coming months. Kok: „It is important that countries do not go ‘shopping’ between the goals. For example, if you take good care of your national diversity of species, but at the same time invest in non-sustainable projects abroad, you are still acting irresponsibly.”
A major problem in biodiversity protection is measurability. Because where in climate science the atmospheric content of CO2 and other greenhouse gases can be used as an indicator, there is no such single global indicator for the multifaceted and complex decline in biodiversity.
The exact implementation of ‘Kunming’ will therefore still be much discussed. Kok: “You can take that 30 percent protection of the land and sea surface very strictly, by only looking at real nature reserves. But you can also see it more broadly: that nature-friendly agriculture also counts, for example. Then we in the Netherlands are already a lot closer to the target value.”
A version of this article also appeared in NRC in the morning of October 12, 2021