The UN conference on biodiversity (COP15), which opens Wednesday in Montreal, must absolutely allow the signing of an agreement sufficiently ambitious to succeed in curbing the decline of life on Earth. This rescue plan is also a fundamental element of the strategy to combat climate change, the two crises being closely linked.
UNESCO experts have again sounded the alarm in a report published last Monday. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the most important reef ecosystem on the planet, is more ‘at risk’ than ever, mainly due to the impacts of global warming. Under the heat, its corals undergo episodes of bleaching which directly threaten the survival of this very rich living environment which has more than 6000 different species.
But the worst is yet to come, according to what emerges from the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). If the warming hascomplexion 1.5°C, which is likely to occur before 2040, more than 90% of the planet’s coral reefs could be condemned to disappear. However, even if they occupy only a tiny part of the oceans, they are home to more than 30% of marine life. Their decline, or even their extinction, would therefore have devastating consequences for life on Earth.
However, this is only one example of the impacts of the climate crisis on biodiversity. A crisis that amplifies other phenomena attributable to human activity, including the unbridled exploitation of resources, pollution and the destruction of natural ecosystems all over the planet. According to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which is equivalent to what the IPCC represents for climate science, the finding is clear: more than one million animal species and plants are today threatened with extinction, “which has never happened before in the history of humanity”, underlines the UN.
Some scientists even openly evoke the beginning of a sixth mass extinction, the first since that of the dinosaurs, 65 million years ago. “We are on the cusp of this sixth extinction,” says Andrew Gonzalez, founder of the Quebec Center for Biodiversity Science. “If we keep our foot on the accelerator of destruction, as we are doing right now, this crisis will see the light of day. But we still have time to have a sensible approach to protecting biodiversity. It is not a fatality. »
If it is not too late to avoid the worst, precious time has already been lost, reminds Eddy Pérez, of the Climate Action Network Canada. In 2010, the 196 signatory countries of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) committed to implement measures, called “Aichi targets”, to halt the decline of biodiversity in the horizon 2020. None of the targets has been achieved and more than 70% of the planet’s ecosystems are now degraded, while several are irretrievably lost.
Historic summit
It is therefore with this failure in mind that the delegations will come to Montreal for COP15, from December 7 to 19, in an attempt to adopt the “post-2020 framework” which has been the subject of negotiations for more than two years. “This COP is almost a historic event, since right now we don’t have a global biodiversity protection framework. The objective is to obtain an agreement to achieve living in harmony with nature by 2050. This means that we must put in place a strategy that will involve all of society: the private sector, governments, citizens, etc. says Mr. Gonzalez.
“It will not be easy,” CBD Executive Secretary Elizabeth Maruma Mrema recently acknowledged. It must be said that the stakeholders have still not resolved certain crucial issues. This is the case with the objective of protecting 30% of natural terrestrial and marine environments by 2030, which has yet to be adopted. States must also agree on ways to restore ecosystems degraded by human activity, stem plastic pollution and reduce the risk posed by invasive species. Not to mention the hundreds of billions of dollars that will be needed over the next few years to help developing countries make the switch to increased protection.
To encourage political decision-makers to finally act with ambition, Andrew Gonzalez considers it necessary to insist on the essential nature of nature. “The message that highlights the importance of protecting biodiversity must go beyond the discourse on species at risk. A much deeper message needs to be put forward, which encompasses the importance of nature for our society, the economy and public health. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the value of the services provided by nature for air, water and food would exceed US$125 trillion per year, more than the world’s GDP.
Climate and biodiversity
It is also essential to understand the close link between the fight against the biodiversity crisis and the fight against the climate crisis, according to all the speakers challenged by The duty. “When we work on the protection of biodiversity, we also fight against climate change. And conversely, when we fight against climate change, we work to limit the impact on biodiversity. These links are more and more concrete and more and more present in the discussions,” also points out the federal Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault.
Protecting the planet’s forests, for example, helps maintain ecosystems that sequester carbon, while preserving the habitat of a multitude of animal and plant species. This observation is also valid for the preservation of the health of marine environments, which capture a significant part of our greenhouse gas emissions, but also for that of wetlands. “The conservation of biodiversity is important to maintain the integrity of the functions of these ecosystems. If we lose the balance in the ecosystems, we also lose their carbon absorption capacity,” argues Michelle Garneau, specialist in climate issues and professor in the Department of Geography at UQAM.
Full professor at the School of Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Montreal, Isabelle Thomas stresses the importance of giving a much greater place to nature in the city, as recommended by the IPCC. “It is absolutely necessary to reintroduce biodiversity in urban environments, which allows better adaptation to climate change. Not only does greening reduce heat islands, but it also mitigates the impacts of droughts and heavy precipitation that result from global warming. “During the pandemic, citizens have become closer to nature. They realized that it was a fundamental element of well-being. Access to these spaces must therefore be privileged”, adds Mr.me Thomas.
For many, COP15 will therefore be an opportunity to put forward this idea of a healthier cohabitation with other forms of life on Earth, but also to reflect on the message of the former president of IPBES, Robert Watson: “Land degradation, the erosion of biodiversity and climate change are three aspects of the same major problem: the dangerously growing impact of our lifestyles on the health of nature and ecosystems. We can no longer afford to fight these three threats in isolation. »