A UN conference on global biodiversity loss kicked off in Japan yesterday, aiming to tackle how to curb the world’s rapid loss of animal and plant species and the habitats they live in.
The 193 members of the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity are gathering in the central city of Nagoya, with experts warning the planet is now in the grip of its sixth mass extinction phase – the first that is man-made.
The 12-day conference aims to throw a spotlight on a global environmental issue that has drawn less attention in recent years than the related problem of man-made climate change, blamed on a surge of greenhouse gas emissions.
Scientists say worldwide human population pressures are wiping out ecosystems such as tropical forests and coral reefs, killing off animal and plant species that form the web of life which humanity depends on.
“Our prosperity and indeed our survival depend on healthy ecosystems,” said Jim Leape, the chief of the Worldwide Fund for Nature. “The earth’s forests, oceans and rivers are the very foundation of our society and economy.
“Even in purely economic terms, it is far, far more cost effective to conserve or restore healthy ecosystems than to artificially provide natural services that we currently take for granted.”
Delegates will have to acknowledge that they have failed so far to meet past pledges to stem biodiversity loss, first made when the UN biodiversity convention was adopted in 1992.
At the start of the decade, UN members pledged under the Millennium Development Goals to achieve “a significant reduction” in the rate of wildlife loss by 2010, which marks the International Year of Biodiversity.
Instead, habitat destruction has continued unabated.
Nearly a quarter of mammals, one-third of amphibians, more than one in eight birds, and more than a fifth of plant species now face the threat of extinction, says the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
In May, a UN report warned of looming “tipping points” that could irreversibly damage ecosystems such as the Amazon rainforest, through logging and land clearance, and coral reefs through global warming and overfishing.
The earth’s 6.8 billion humans were effectively living 50 per cent beyond the planet’s biocapacity in 2007, says a new assessment by WWF, adding that by 2030, humans will effectively need the capacity of two Earths.
“We will discuss sincerely the future of the Earth to find a solution,” Japan’s Environment Minister Ryu Matsumoto, who chairs the Nagoya conference, said in an opening speech.
“It is the world’s common desire to hand over the beautiful earth that is supported by a rich biodiversity to the next generation.”
Delegates plan to set a new target for 2020 for curbing species loss, and will discuss boosting medium-term financial help for poor countries to help them protect their wildlife and habitats.
They also aim to forge an accord on the “equitable sharing” of the benefits from natural resources – for example a medicine derived from a jungle plant – under a so-called Access and Benefits Sharing Protocol
Under the proposal, companies would agree to pay a “gene fee” if scientists find plants or animals, long used by indigenous groups, that have a commercial use such as in the pharmaceutical industry.
Brazilian Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira warned this month that “for us, it is not acceptable to go to Nagoya and not have an agreement for (the) ABS Protocol... We need a deal.”