Time to save life on Earth
Print Edition
Diplomats from 130 nations gathered in Paris yesterday to validate a grim UN assessment of the state of nature and lay the groundwork for a rescue plan for life on Earth.
The destruction of nature threatens humanity 鈥渁t least as much as human-induced climate change,鈥 UN biodiversity chief Robert Watson said as the five-day meeting began.
鈥淲e have a closing window of opportunity to act and narrowing options.鈥
A 44-page draft 鈥淪ummary for Policy Makers鈥 catalogues the 1001 ways in which humans have plundered the planet and damaged its capacity to renew the resources upon which we depend, starting with breathable air, drinkable water and productive soil.
The impact of humanity鈥檚 expanding footprint and appetites have been devastating.
Up to a million species face extinction, many within decades, according to the report, and three-quarters of Earth鈥檚 land surface has been 鈥渟everely altered.鈥
A third of ocean fish stocks are in decline and the rest, barring a few, are harvested at the very edge of sustainability.
A dramatic die-off of pollinating insects, especially bees, threatens essential crops valued at half-a-trillion dollars annually.
Twenty 10-year targets adopted in 2010 under the United Nations鈥 biodiversity treaty 鈥 to expand protected areas, slow species and forest loss, and reduce pollution 鈥 will fail badly with one or two exceptions.
Based on an underlying 1,800-page report that draws from 400 experts, the executive summary has to be vetted line-by-line by diplomats with scientists at their elbow.
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