Jul 23. () –
World leaders must seize a crucial opportunity to forge a much-needed joint approach to address climate change and biodiversity losssay scientists at ZSL, an international conservation charity working in the UK and the University of York in the US. Without this, work to address either crisis could inadvertently undermine progress on the other, they write in a paper in ‘Journal of Applied Ecology’entitled ‘The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement need a joint work programme for climate, nature and people’
The paper conceptualises how a joint work programme between the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) could be established. Highlighting the issues that the joint programme should address and recommendations for successful implementation, the paper argues that such a unified policy tool is critical to meeting international commitments under the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Professor Nathalie Pettorelli, who has long called for united solutions to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, is a co-author of the paper and a researcher at ZSL’s Institute of Zoology, explains: “We urgently need a global approach that addresses the nature and climate crises together, because they are intrinsically connected.
The UNFCCC and CBD are incredible platforms to provide evidence and guide the way through the changes we need, but greater levels of integration between the biodiversity and climate change agendas are needed to fill implementation gaps. The upcoming Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC and CBD presents a clear policy window for both conventions to introduce a formal governance structure that brings together the ideas, people, organisations and processes needed to join the dots on how to stabilise our climate and restore our nature.
World leaders will meet later this year at two global conventions to separately address climate change and biodiversity loss. In October, the CBD will meet in Colombia for the 16th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP16). A week after its closing in November, the UNFCCC will meet in Azerbaijan for the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29).
Nathalie adds: “With the closely linked political agendas of the upcoming UNFCCC and CBD COPs, negotiators have a key opportunity to take coordinated, bold and transformative action to deliver a new, more integrated and coherent approach to addressing the interconnected crises of nature and climate. The urgency is such that both conventions need to work together now and take advantage of the many potential synergies we highlight between climate change and biodiversity policies to change humanity’s course towards a sustainable future.“.
Government representatives at COP16 will be tasked with assessing the status of implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted in 2022, which outlines a path for humanity to live in harmony with nature by 2050, with goals including halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030. Discussions during COP29 will be key to making progress towards the landmark international treaty to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, known as the Paris Agreement.
Climate change and biodiversity loss are intrinsically interconnected; rapidly changing conditions drive species loss and the resulting deterioration of ecosystems worldwide; However, healthy, functional ecosystems are absolutely key to addressing climate change and mitigating its impacts.
Professor Idil Boran, co-author and a researcher at York University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies in Toronto, says: “The world is currently at a crossroads. World leaders have signed international treaties committing them to take action to address these two crises, but there is currently a huge gap in the tools available to ensure this action is unified. We need a blueprint that fills these gaps, identifies areas where climate action may harm biodiversity, provides clear recommendations, and develops methods to monitor progress toward shared goals.
“Without this, we risk that measures to address one crisis will create significant setbacks for the other. For example, the replacement of natural grasslands with forests It can help capture and store planet-warming carbon dioxide, but it does so at the expense of ecosystems and wildlife that previously used the land.“.
Properly implemented nature-based solutions (NBS) – natural systems that help achieve societal goals – address climate change and biodiversity loss simultaneously, while delivering benefits to people. For example, restoring mangroves not only helps store carbon, but also protects the habitats of species such as endangered Bengal tigers and critically endangered Philippine cockatoos, and provides food and resources to local communities.
The document also highlights the vital need to reallocate resources to address imbalances in funding and support available for measures to address climate change compared to biodiversity loss.
In this way the work closes: “There is a greater need for world leaders to ensure that nature is central to their decisions.. Functioning ecosystems are not only important for addressing rapid climate change; their loss affects every aspect of our lives, from food security to access to clean water. We need these ecosystems to be recognized and conservation to be given the resources it needs to be part of the solution to address climate change and defend human well-being.”
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