Today is Biodiversity day at COP27 and there is a lot to be concerned about and a lot to be hopeful for. Over recent years it has become clear that biodiversity and climate change are intimately connected and we've tried to show that in our considerations. When we get things right the world's ecosystem thrives and we thrive with it.
Creator God, we thank you for the beauty, majesty and intricate details of your amazing creation. We acknowledge the complexities of ecosystems and that the interdependencies of biodiversity that we recklessly destroy. Forgive us. We pray for integrated responses across nations that protect biodiversity and that there will be nature based solutions to mitigate the climate and biodiversity crisis.
What a world you created our Creator God! A world of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms intricately and exquisitely entwined in mutually supporting ecosystems. A world of colour and smell, a world of texture and scale, a world with detail beyond anything we can imagine. A world of such biodiversity!
And into that world you placed us – gifting us food, clean water, medicine and shelter, all courtesy of that abundant biodiversity.
But we lost focus Creator God. We forgot that we were part of your creation, and we used your created to our own ends. We degraded land, destroyed forests, polluted seas, and caused global temperatures to rise. In so many places we broke the intricate ecosystem web and damaged biodiversity. We are sorry for those things, and we are sorry for the damage sustained by your most vulnerable children.
And now we thank you Creator God because it’s not too late for change. We thank you that biodiversity loss can be reversed, and we thank you that when we start to take care of your creation it starts to take care of us. We thank you for your abundant provision!
Psalm 96: 11-13 (NIV)
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Biodiversity loss has been eclipsed by climate change on the global agenda but the two issues are closely linked, have similar impacts on human welfare and need to be tackled urgently, together. (Reuters, 11 June 2021)
Biodiversity is all the different kinds of life you’ll find in one area—the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and even microorganisms like bacteria that make up our natural world. Each of these species and organisms work together in ecosystems, like an intricate web, to maintain balance and support life. Biodiversity supports everything in nature that we need to survive: food, clean water, medicine, and shelter (quoted verbatim from the WWF website).
Whilst biodiversity interplays are complex, the headline issue for biodiversity is very simple: us. Human activities have degraded land, destroyed forests, polluted seas and are causing global temperatures to rise. Individually and combined these impacts have caused a really worrying loss of biodiversity.
Biodiversity loss in an area may mean that species numbers decrease, or it may mean total species loss from the area. At its extreme it means that some plants, animals and organisms no longer exist - anywhere. Our actions have destroyed them.
The WWF's Living Planet Report 2022 reports that since 1970 global wildlife populations have plummeted by 69% on average.
One million plants and animals are threatened with extinction. 1-2.5% of birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles and fish have already gone extinct; population abundances and genetic diversity have decreased; and species are losing their climatically determined habitats (quoted verbatim from WWF's Living Planet Report 2022).
And our own wellbeing is not beyond impact. Our health depends on a healthy planet so as the planet's biodiversity decreases, so does our wellbeing and the impacts are disproportionately felt by the poorest and most marginalised. A familiar story?
Interactions between biodiversity, climate change and land use
Source: Biodiversity and Sustainable Development
We live on an incredible planet. Once we understand the intricacies of design that connect us with the ecosystem, we can turn things around and this same ecosystem is able to start to start supporting us again. Watch the video below for a taste of how this can be achieved.
In 2019 IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) published a wide ranging report highlighting some stark truths about biodiversity. But the report also highlighted the ways in which change can be brought about. Here are some that provide hope:
The global environment can be safeguarded through enhanced international cooperation and linked, locally relevant measures.
When we embrace diverse visions of a good life, when we reduce our total consumption and waste production, when we reduce inequalities, when we practice justice and inclusion, when we ensure environmentally friendly technology, innovation and investment, when we promote education and sharing... then transformations towards sustainability are very likely to happen.
When we recognise the knowledge, innovations, practices and values of indigenous peoples and local communities... their quality of life is enhanced, there is sustainable use of nature and there is benefit to the wider world community.
Feeding humanity and enhancing the conservation and sustainable use of nature are complementary and closely interdependent goals that can be advanced through sustainable agriculture, aquaculture and livestock systems, the safeguarding of native species, varieties, breeds and habitats, and ecological restoration.
Nature-based solutions can be cost-effective for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals in cities, which are crucial for global sustainability.
High level opening: Connecting Climate and Biodiversity: Highlighting the interdependence between climate and biodiversity and the urgent need for integrated responses at scale. There is a need for an international policy landscape that commits, encourages, and enables coherent and urgent institutional action to address the climate and biodiversity crises.
Present: The biodiversity and Climate Change Nexus: presentation of the very latest scientific knowledge on the relationship between climate change and biodiversity, including impacts of climate change on biodiversity and the ecosystem, and the contribution of nature-based solutions to climate mitigation and adaptation.
Hope: Providing Solutions and Benefits for Biodiversity, climate, and people: Showcasing successful approaches and case studies where biodiversity has been managed in the face of climate change, and where the management of biodiversity through conservation, land restoration, combating desertification and sustainable use has led to benefits for climate mitigation and adaptation. The COP27 Presidency initiative on Nature-based Solutions will be launched.
Vision: scaling up Urgent Action to Address the Biodiversity and Climate crises: Focusing on the urgency and scale of actions by policy makers, institutions, and all stakeholders across scales, and bringing together youth, civil society, the private sector, and governments in a constructive dialogue. The aim is to ensure that the urgency and required scale of implementation is understood and that it materialises to secure biodiversity, a stable climate, and sustainable development for all. There will also be an opportunity for (a) the Glasgow Leader's Declaration on Forests and Land Use, agreed at UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) COP26, to share its progress to date, and (b) to look ahead to the CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity) COP15 and adoption of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.
Closing session: Reflections on the day, implications for the future, including remaining negotiations at UNFCCC ((United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change)) COP27 and the pathway towards CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity) COP15.
Guyer M., Steinemann M., and Saalismaa N. (2022), Biodiversity and Sustainable Development. Climate Change & Environment Nexus Brief. Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation: Bern, Switzerland.
