International Day for Biological Diversity

  In simple terms, biodiversity refers to all types of life on Earth . The UN Convention on Biological Diversity ( CBD ) describes it as “the diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems, including plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi ”. These three levels work together to create life on Earth, in all its complexity. The diversity of species keep the global ecosystem in balance , providing everything in nature that we, as humans, need to survive, including food, clean water, medicine and shelter.  Over  half of global GDP  is strongly dependent on nature. More than one billion people  rely on forests  for their livelihoods. Biodiversity is also our strongest natural defence against  climate change . Land and ocean ecosystems act as “carbon sinks” , absorbing more than half of all carbon emissions.   Forests are being restored through biodiversity enterprise programmes in Kenya.

Because the first big push of the year to put the United Nations ’s bold plan to protect biodiversity into practice takes place in the Swiss capital, Bern , between 23 and 25 January. Introducing the conference, Patricia Kameri-Mbote, Director of the United Nations Environment Programme ( UNEP ) Law Division, warned that the lack of coordination between the various organizations trying to protect biodiversity is a “critical challenge” that needs to be urgently overcome “as we strive for a world living in harmony with nature by 2050”. A key aim of the conference will be to solve that problem b y pulling together the various initiatives taking place across the world. © United Nations/Mukhopadhyay S   Climate change and unsustainable land and water practices are driving drought conditions across the world.

Yes. It’s very serious, and it needs to be urgently tackled. Starting with the natural and land sea carbon sinks mentioned above. They are being degraded, with examples including the deforestation of the Amazon and the disappearance of salt marshes and mangrove swamps , which remove large amounts of carbon. The way we use the land and sea is one of the biggest drivers of biodiversity loss . Since 1990, around 420 million hectares of forest have been lost through conversion to other land uses. Agricultural expansion continues to be the main driver of deforestation, forest degradation and forest biodiversity loss . Other major drivers of species decline include overfishing and the introduction of invasive alien species (species that have entered and established themselves in the environment outside their natural habitat, causing the decline or even extinction of native species and negatively affecting ecosystems). These activities, UNEP has shown , are pushing around a million spec...

The Plan, officially called the Kunming-Montreal  Global Biodiversity Framework , is a UN-driven landmark agreement adopted by 196 countries to guide global action on nature through to 2030, which was hashed out at meetings in Kunming, China and Montreal, Canada, in 2022. The aim is to address biodiversity loss , restore ecosystems and protect indigenous rights . Indigenous peoples  suffer disproportionately  from loss of biological diversity and environmental degradation. Their lives, survival, development chances, knowledge, environment and health conditions are threatened by environmental degradation, large scale industrial activities, toxic waste, conflicts and forced migration as well as by land-use and land-cover changes such as deforestation for agriculture and extractives. There are concrete measures to halt and reverse nature loss, including putting 30 per cent of the planet and 30 per cent of degraded ecosystems under protection by 2030 . Currently 17 per cent ...

Next month the United Nations Environment Assembly ( UNEA ), otherwise known as the “ World’s Environment Parliament ” will meet at the UN office in Nairobi. The event brings together governments, civil society groups, the scientific community and the private sector to highlight the most pressing issues and improve global governance of the environment .  UNEA 2024 will focus on climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. However, the main event will be the UN Biodiversity Conference , which will take place in Colombia in October. Delegates will discuss how to restore lands and seas in a way that protects the planet and respects the rights of local communities.

From the smallest bacteria to the grandest ecosystems, biodiversity is a lifeline for all living things, providing essentials like food, water, and medicine. It's also a natural defense against climate change .