Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

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The Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services is a report [1] by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, on the global state of biodiversity. A summary for policymakers was released on 6 May 2019. [2] The report states that, due to human impact on the environment in the past half-century, the Earth's biodiversity has suffered a catastrophic decline unprecedented in human history, [3] as an estimated 82 percent of wild mammal biomass has been lost. The report estimates that there are 8 million animal and plant species on Earth, with the majority (5.5 million) represented by insects. Out of those 8 million species, 1 million are threatened with extinction, including 40 percent of amphibians, almost a third of reef-building corals, more than a third of marine mammals, and 10 percent of all insects.

Contents

Background

In 2010 a resolution by the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly urged the United Nations Environment Programme to convene a plenary meeting to establish an Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). [4] [5] In 2013 an initial conceptual framework was adopted for the prospective IPBES plenary. [5]

From 29 April to 4 May 2019, representatives of the 132 IPBES members met in Paris, France, to receive the IPBES's full report and adopted a summary of it for policymakers. On 6 May 2019, the 40-page summary was released. [6] [7]

Objective and scope

The Global Assessment Report is a global-level assessment of changes in Earth's biodiversity that have occurred over the past 50 years. It draws an extensive picture of economic development and its effects on nature in that period. The Report is a collaborative effort by 145 authors from 50 countries, [8] produced over a three-year period and supported by some 310 authors' contributions. [9] The Global Assessment Report comprises some 1,700 pages [8] evaluating over 15,000 scientific publications and reports from indigenous peoples. [10] The Report's authors are predominantly natural scientists, one-third are social scientists, and about ten percent are interdisciplinary workers. [8]

The IPBES Report—an analogue to reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), including the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report — is intended to form a scientific basis for informed political and societal decisions on biodiversity policies. [11] It is the first United Nations report on the global state of biodiversity since the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment published in 2005. [12]

Overview

"Finding out that 1 million species face extinction without radical corrective changes in human behavior is akin to finding out you have a fatal disease. One day you have a thousand problems; the next, you have just one. Nothing in today’s headlines compares to the catastrophic potential posed by climate change and the decimating effects of careless consumerism around the globe."

Kathleen Parker for The Washington Post , May 7, 2019 [13]

The Report examined the rate of decline in biodiversity and found that the adverse effects of human activities on the world's species is "unprecedented in human history": [14] one million species, including 40 percent of amphibians, almost a third of reef-building corals, more than a third of marine mammals, and 10 percent of all insects are threatened with extinction. [15] This is out of an estimated 8 million animal and plant species, including 5.5 million insect species. The drivers of these extinctions are, in descending order: (1) changes in land and sea use; (2) direct exploitation of organisms; (3) climate change; (4) pollution and (5) invasive alien species. [6]

Since the 16th century, at least 680 species of vertebrates have become extinct. [16] By 2016, among mammals, more than nine percent of livestock breeds were extinct, and another 1,000 breeds are threatened with extinction. [17] The authors have coined the expression "dead species walking" for the more than 500,000 species that are not yet extinct but, due to changes in, or reduction of, their habitats, have no chance of long-term survival. [18]

A 2002 satellite image showing deforestation due to palm oil farming in Malaysian Borneo. Malayasia iko 2002169.jpg
A 2002 satellite image showing deforestation due to palm oil farming in Malaysian Borneo.

According to the Report, the threat to species diversity is human-caused. [19] The main cause is the human land requirement, which deprives other species of their habitats. [10] In the past 50 years, the world's human population has doubled, [20] [12] per capita gross domestic product has quadrupled, [21] and biodiversity has suffered a catastrophic decline. [22] Most notably, tropical forests have been cleared for cattle pastures in South America and for oil-palm plantations in Southeast Asia. [23] Some 32 million hectares (79 million acres) of tropical rainforest were destroyed between 2010 and 2015, compared to the 100 million hectares (250 million acres) lost in the latter two decades of the 20th century. Already 85 percent of the world's wetlands have been lost. [24]

The total biomass of wild mammals has decreased by 82 percent, while humans and their farm animals now make up 96 percent of all mammalian biomass on Earth. [10] Additionally, since 1992 the land requirement for human settlements has more than doubled worldwide; [25] and humanity has rendered 23 percent of Earth's land ecologically degraded and no longer usable. [24] Industrial farming is considered to be one of the major contributors to this decline. [26] [27] Around 25% of the planet's ice-free land is being used to rear cattle for human consumption. [10]

In the ocean, overfishing is a major cause of species loss. [16] [27] Some 300–400 million metric tons (660–880 billion lb) of heavy metals, solvents, toxic sludge, and other wastes per year enter the water cycle from industrial facilities. [10] [28] Since the 19th century, the world's coral reefs have been reduced by half. [24]

When estimating the effect of climate change on species' extinction risk, the report concluded that global warming of 2 °C (3.6 °F) over the preindustrial levels would threaten an estimated 5% of the Earth's species with extinction even in the absence of any other factors like land use change. If the warming reached 4.3 °C (7.7 °F), they estimated that 16% of the Earth's species would be threatened with extinction. In the ocean, they estimated that in the range between those "low" and "high" global warming scenarios, ocean net primary production would decline by 3% to 10% by the end of the century, while fish biomass would decline by 3% to 25%. Finally, even the lower warming levels of 1.5–2 °C (2.7–3.6 °F) would "profoundly" reduce geographical ranges of the majority of the world's species, thus making them more vulnerable then they would have been otherwise. [6]

Socioeconomic consequences include threatened loss of food production, due to loss of pollinator insects, valued at between $235 and $577 billion a year; and anticipated loss of the livelihoods of up to 300 million people, due to loss of coastal areas such as mangrove forests. [24]

Conclusions

The Report warned that society should not fixate on economic growth, [29] [30] and that countries should "base their economies on an understanding that nature is the foundation for development." [8] [31] The Report called on countries to begin focusing on "restoring habitats, growing food on less land, stopping illegal logging and fishing, protecting marine areas, and stopping the flow of heavy metals and wastewater into the environment." [31] It also suggests that countries reduce their subsidies to industries that are harmful to nature, and increase subsidies and funding to environmentally beneficial programs. [32] Restoring the sovereignty of indigenous populations around the world is also suggested, as their lands have seen lower rates of biodiversity loss. [33] Additionally, it highlighted needed shifts in individual behaviours, such as reducing meat consumption. [10] [23] [34]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holocene extinction</span> Ongoing extinction event caused by human activity

The Holocene extinction, or Anthropocene extinction, is the ongoing extinction event caused by humans during the Holocene epoch. These extinctions span numerous families of plants and animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates, and affecting not just terrestrial species but also large sectors of marine life. With widespread degradation of biodiversity hotspots, such as coral reefs and rainforests, as well as other areas, the vast majority of these extinctions are thought to be undocumented, as the species are undiscovered at the time of their extinction, which goes unrecorded. The current rate of extinction of species is estimated at 100 to 1,000 times higher than natural background extinction rates and is increasing. During the past 100–200 years, biodiversity loss and species extinction have accelerated, to the point that most conservation biologists now believe that human activity has either produced a period of mass extinction, or is on the cusp of doing so. As such, after the "Big Five" mass extinctions, the Holocene extinction event has also been referred to as the sixth mass extinction or sixth extinction; given the recent recognition of the Capitanian mass extinction, the term seventh mass extinction has also been proposed for the Holocene extinction event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nature</span> Natural, physical, or material world and its phenomena

Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part of nature, human activity or humans as a whole are often described as at times at odds, or outright separate and even superior to nature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biodiversity</span> Variety and variability of life forms

Biodiversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distributed evenly on Earth. It is greater in the tropics as a result of the warm climate and high primary productivity in the region near the equator. Tropical forest ecosystems cover less than one-fifth of Earth's terrestrial area and contain about 50% of the world's species. There are latitudinal gradients in species diversity for both marine and terrestrial taxa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extinction</span> Termination of a taxon by the death of its last member

Extinction is the termination of a taxon by the death of its last member. A taxon may become functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to reproduce and recover. Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively. This difficulty leads to phenomena such as Lazarus taxa, where a species presumed extinct abruptly "reappears" after a period of apparent absence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation biology</span> Study of threats to biological diversity

Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an interdisciplinary subject drawing on natural and social sciences, and the practice of natural resource management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthropocene</span> Proposed geologic epoch for present time

The Anthropocene ( ) is the common name for a proposed geological epoch, dating from the commencement of significant human impact on Earth up to the present day. It affects Earth's geology, landscape, limnology, ecosystems and climate. The effects of human activities on Earth can be seen for example in biodiversity loss and climate change. Various start dates for the Anthropocene have been proposed, ranging from the beginning of the Neolithic Revolution, to as recently as the 1960s as a starting date. The biologist Eugene F. Stoermer is credited with first coining and using the term anthropocene informally in the 1980s; Paul J. Crutzen re-invented and popularized the term.

An ecological or environmental crisis occurs when changes to the environment of a species or population destabilizes its continued survival. Some of the important causes include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental degradation</span> Any change or disturbance to the environment perceived to be deleterious or undesirable

Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is defined as any change or disturbance to the environment perceived to be deleterious or undesirable. The environmental degradation process amplifies the impact of environmental issues which leave lasting impacts on the environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Habitat destruction</span> Process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species

Habitat destruction occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved to elsewhere or are dead, leading to a decrease in biodiversity and species numbers. Habitat destruction is in fact the leading cause of biodiversity loss and species extinction worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human impact on the environment</span> Impact of human life on Earth and environment

Human impact on the environment refers to changes to biophysical environments and to ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources caused directly or indirectly by humans. Modifying the environment to fit the needs of society is causing severe effects including global warming, environmental degradation, mass extinction and biodiversity loss, ecological crisis, and ecological collapse. Some human activities that cause damage to the environment on a global scale include population growth, neoliberal economic policies and rapid economic growth, overconsumption, overexploitation, pollution, and deforestation. Some of the problems, including global warming and biodiversity loss, have been proposed as representing catastrophic risks to the survival of the human species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife conservation</span> Practice of protecting wild plant and animal species and their habitats

Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habitat destruction, degradation, fragmentation, overexploitation, poaching, pollution, climate change, and the illegal wildlife trade. The IUCN estimates that 42,100 species of the ones assessed are at risk for extinction. Expanding to all existing species, a 2019 UN report on biodiversity put this estimate even higher at a million species. It is also being acknowledged that an increasing number of ecosystems on Earth containing endangered species are disappearing. To address these issues, there have been both national and international governmental efforts to preserve Earth's wildlife. Prominent conservation agreements include the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). There are also numerous nongovernmental organizations (NGO's) dedicated to conservation such as the Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, and Conservation International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extinction risk from climate change</span> Risk of plant or animal species becoming extinct due to climate change

There are several plausible pathways that could lead to an increased extinction risk from climate change. Every plant and animal species has evolved to exist within a certain ecological niche. But climate change leads to changes of temperature and average weather patterns. These changes can push climatic conditions outside of the species' niche, and ultimately render it extinct. Normally, species faced with changing conditions can either adapt in place through microevolution or move to another habitat with suitable conditions. However, the speed of recent climate change is very fast. Due to this rapid change, for example cold-blooded animals may struggle to find a suitable habitat within 50 km of their current location at the end of this century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Living Planet Index</span> Indicator of the state of global biological diversity

The Living Planet Index (LPI) is an indicator of the state of global biological diversity, based on trends in vertebrate populations of species from around the world. The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) manages the index in cooperation with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global biodiversity</span> Total variability of Earths life forms

Global biodiversity is the measure of biodiversity on planet Earth and is defined as the total variability of life forms. More than 99 percent of all species that ever lived on Earth are estimated to be extinct. Estimates on the number of Earth's current species range from 2 million to 1 trillion, but most estimates are around 11 million species or fewer. About 1.74 million species were databased as of 2018, and over 80 percent have not yet been described. The total amount of DNA base pairs on Earth, as a possible approximation of global biodiversity, is estimated at 5.0 x 1037, and weighs 50 billion tonnes. In comparison, the total mass of the biosphere has been estimated to be as much as 4 TtC (trillion tons of carbon).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental issues</span> Concerns and policies regarding the biophysical environment

Environmental issues are disruptions in the usual function of ecosystems. Further, these issues can be caused by humans or they can be natural. These issues are considered serious when the ecosystem cannot recover in the present situation, and catastrophic if the ecosystem is projected to certainly collapse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services</span> Towards science-led government policy

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is an intergovernmental organization established to improve the interface between science and policy on issues of biodiversity and ecosystem services. It is intended to serve a similar role to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biodiversity loss</span> Extinction of species or loss of species in a given habitat

Biodiversity loss happens when plant or animal species disappear completely from Earth (extinction) or when there is a decrease or disappearance of species in a specific area. Biodiversity loss means that there is a reduction in biological diversity in a given area. The decrease can be temporary or permanent. It is temporary if the damage that led to the loss is reversible in time, for example through ecological restoration. If this is not possible, then the decrease is permanent. The cause of most of the biodiversity loss is, generally speaking, human activities that push the planetary boundaries too far. These activities include habitat destruction and land use intensification. Further problem areas are air and water pollution, over-exploitation, invasive species and climate change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration</span>

The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration runs from 2021 to 2030. Similar to other nature related international decades, its purpose is to promote the United Nation's environmental goals. Specifically, to facilitate global cooperation for the restoration of degraded and destroyed ecosystems. Along with fostering efforts to combat climate change, safeguard biodiversity, food security, and water supply. While much focus is on promoting restoration activity by national governments, the UN also wishes to promote such efforts from other actors, ranging from the private sector and NGOs to regular individuals.

This is an article of notable issues relating to the environment in 2019. They relate to environmental law, conservation, environmentalism and environmental issues.

The Biodiversity of South Africa is the variety of living organisms within the boundaries of South Africa and its exclusive economic zone. South Africa is a region of high biodiversity in the terrestrial and marine realms. The country is ranked sixth out of the world's seventeen megadiverse countries, and is rated among the top 10 for plant species diversity and third for marine endemism.

References

  1. ↑ "Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services". 2019. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  2. ↑ Niranjan, Ajit (22 May 2019). "As extinctions loom, biodiversity warnings fail to resonate with governments, media". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  3. ↑ "World is 'on notice' as major UN report shows one million species face extinction". UN News. 6 May 2019. Archived from the original on 2 March 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  4. ↑ Vadrot, Alice B. M.; Rankovic, Aleksandar; Lapeyre, Renaud; Aubert, Pierre-Marie; Laurans, Yann (1 March 2018). "Why are social sciences and humanities needed in the works of IPBES? A systematic review of the literature". Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research. 31 (Suppl 1): 78–100. doi:10.1080/13511610.2018.1443799. ISSN   1351-1610. PMC   5898424 . PMID   29706803.
  5. 1 2 Duraiappah, Anantha Kumar; Rogers, Deborah (September 2011). "The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: opportunities for the social sciences". Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research. 24 (3): 217–224. doi:10.1080/13511610.2011.592052. ISSN   1351-1610. S2CID   143298612.
  6. 1 2 3 "Media Release: Nature's Dangerous Decline 'Unprecedented'; Species Extinction Rates 'Accelerating'". IPBES. 5 May 2019. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  7. ↑ "Nature's decline 'unprecedented' in human history: 1 million species threatened with extinction". Radboud University. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "One million species at risk of extinction, UN report warns". National Geographic. 6 May 2019. Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
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  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Watts, Jonathan (6 May 2019). "Human society under urgent threat from loss of Earth's natural life". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 December 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  11. ↑ Masood, Ehsan (22 August 2018). "The battle for the soul of biodiversity". Nature. 560 (7719): 423–425. Bibcode:2018Natur.560..423M. doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-05984-3 . PMID   30135536.
  12. 1 2 Stokstad, Erik (5 May 2019). "Landmark analysis documents the alarming global decline of nature". Science . AAAS. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  13. ↑ Parker, Kathleen (7 May 2019). "Nothing in today's headlines compares to the coming catastrophe". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  14. ↑ "Humans Are Speeding Extinction and Altering the Natural World at an 'Unprecedented' Pace". The New York Times. 6 May 2019. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  15. ↑ Hancock, Farah (7 May 2019). "Million species facing extinction: report". Newsroom. Retrieved 8 May 2019.[ permanent dead link ]
  16. 1 2 Borenstein, Seth (6 May 2019). "UN report: Humans accelerating extinction of other species". AP News. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  17. ↑ Shieber, Jonathan (6 May 2019). "New study shows human development is destroying the planet at an unprecedented rate". TechCrunch. Retrieved 8 May 2019.[ permanent dead link ]
  18. ↑ Baier, Tina (6 May 2019). "Der Mensch verdrängt eine Million Tier- und Pflanzenarten". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). ISSN   0174-4917. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  19. ↑ Resnick, Brian (7 May 2019). "A million species are at risk of extinction. Humans are to blame". Vox. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  20. ↑ Dalton, Jane (6 May 2019). "UN issues world alert over 'direct threat to humanity'". HeraldScotland. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  21. ↑ "UN Report: Nature's Dangerous Decline 'Unprecedented'; Species Extinction Rates 'Accelerating'". un.org. 6 May 2019. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2020. Since 1970 the global human population has more than doubled (from 3.7 to 7.6 billion), rising unevenly across countries and regions; and per capita gross domestic product is four times higher – with ever-more distant consumers shifting the environmental burden of consumption and production across regions.
  22. ↑ Cookson, Clive (6 May 2019). "Extinctions increasing at unprecedented pace, UN study warns". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  23. 1 2 McGrath, Matt (6 May 2019). "Humans 'threaten 1m species with extinction'". BBC . Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  24. 1 2 3 4 Schwägerl, Christian (6 May 2019). "Dramatischer Uno-Bericht: Eine Million Arten vom Aussterben bedroht". Spiegel Online. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  25. ↑ Fingas, Jon (6 May 2019). "UN study says humans are damaging nature at 'unprecedented' rate". Engadget. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  26. ↑ Vidal, John (15 March 2019). "The Rapid Decline Of The Natural World Is A Crisis Even Bigger Than Climate Change". The Huffington Post . Archived from the original on 3 October 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019. "The food system is the root of the problem. The cost of ecological degradation is not considered in the price we pay for food, yet we are still subsidizing fisheries and agriculture." - Mark Rounsevell
  27. 1 2 Van Roekel, Annemieke (11 June 2019). "Earth's biota entering a sixth mass extinction, UN report claims". EuroScience . Main offenders are industrial agriculture and fisheries.
  28. ↑ Pirani, Fiza (7 May 2019). "More than 1 million species at risk of extinction because of humans, UN warns". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  29. ↑ Hannam, Peter (6 May 2019). "'Unparalleled': A million species at risk as humanity's impact rises". The Sydney Morning Herald . Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019. A key constituent of sustainable pathways is the evolution of global financial and economic systems to build a global sustainable economy, steering away from the current limited paradigm of economic growth.
  30. ↑ "One million species to go extinct 'within decades'". Al Jazeera English . 6 May 2019. Archived from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  31. 1 2 "World must undergo huge social and financial transformation to save future of human life, major report finds". The Independent. 6 May 2019. Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  32. ↑ "We're facing a biodiversity crisis, according to landmark UN study". The Ecosia Blog. 7 May 2019. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  33. ↑ Noor, Dharna (15 June 2019). "Socialism or Extinction". Jacobin . Archived from the original on 15 June 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  34. ↑ "Biodiversity Assessment". Biodiversity Assessment. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
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