Decisions Based on Narrow Set of Market Values of Nature Underpin the Global Biodiversity Crisis

 
The way nature is valued in political and economic decisions is both a key driver of the global biodiversity crisis and a vital opportunity to address it, according to a four-year methodological assessment by 82 top scientists and experts from every region of the world.

Narrow Valuation of Nature is Widening Biodiversity Loss

Nature has diverse values for different people, but it is poorly evaluated, and this is driving the global biodiversity crisis, top scientists say in a new report.

IPBES to Release New Assessments on the Values of Biodiversity and Sustainable Use of Wild Species

Speaking to IPS about the importance of biodiversity and nature's contributions to people, Dr Anne Larigauderie, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), stressed the importance of moving from knowledge and policy silos to a more integrated approach to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially those related to food, water, health, climate change, and energy, which can only be achieved together with the two goals related to biodiversity.

IPBES Shoring up Private Sector Support for Biodiversity Science

In the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, the changing climate often eclipses the loss of ecosystems and species in funding and awareness.

Addressing the Global Biodiversity Crisis Requires Understanding and Prioritizing the Many Values of Nature

Nature has many values. A forest can be a cool and quiet place to retreat to when you need relaxation on a hot summer day. It is a habitat for many species. Trees also sequester and store carbon, reducing future impacts of climate change. But of course, the trees also have a monetary value if they are felled and turned into furniture or put to other uses. These are just four examples of the many values of nature, which are vital parts of our cultures, identities, economies and ways of life.

The Sustainable Use of Wild Species is Important for Everyone

You probably use wild species far more often than you realise. For many people, especially in more developed economies, the use of wild species sounds like something quite removed from their everyday lives – something perhaps more relevant to other people, in other countries.

Speed Dating with the Future, a Romance with Science and Biodiversity

In a busy world where love is a complicated affair, speed dating is one way to connect, but can it work to ignite more sustainable relationships with nature? Are we open to a romance with science and evidence?

Scientific Panel’s Scoping Report Instructive for Global Food Systems Transformation

On September 10^th, on a sweltering summer afternoon, three fishers drove a van around the residential community of Castle Comfort in Dominica, blowing forcefully into their conch shells – the traditional call that there is fresh fish for sale in the area.

UN’s Battle Against Climate Hazards Undermined by a Devastating Pandemic

The United Nations has been in the forefront of an ongoing battle against the growing hazards of climate change, including the destruction of different species of plants and animals, the danger of rising sea-levels threatening the very existence of small island developing states (SIDS), and the risks of oceans reaching record temperatures endangering aquatic resources.

We Need Nature and Biodiversity if We Want a Sustainable Future

“Investing in nature is investing in a sustainable future,” was one of the key messages from yesterday’s first-ever United Nations Summit on Biodiversity where world leaders and experts agreed  on the urgency to act swiftly to preserve biodiversity globally. 

A 10-Year-Old Commitment to Biodiversity Misses Virtually All of its Targets

The coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed the lives of over one million people worldwide and destabilized the global economy, also upended the UN’s ambitious socio-economic goals, including the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2030.

From Pledges to Policy and Practice: Moving Nature to the Heart of Decision-Making

This week, Heads of State and Government from 64 countries announced one of the strongest pledges yet to reverse the loss of biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people by 2030. Advancing from powerful pledges to concrete policy and action, however, means that nature must be moved to the heart of global, national and local decision-making. It’s time for nature to be reintegrated into everything we do.

Anne Larigauderie UN Biodiversity Summit #ForNature Video

On the eve of the United Nations Summit on Biodiversity, Dr. Anne Larigauderie calls on everyone to make ambitious commitments to protect #biodiversity and #nature.

Dr. David Obura: The New Natural

Coral reefs are iconic, but we have all seen the images of bleached areas that were previously teeming with life and colour. These ecosystems, and more broadly coastlines, are a vital part of the efforts to protect biodiversity. So how are coral reefs doing? Are we too late? Can we still secure a better future for reefs and people? In this week’s episode, Brit talks to Dr. David Obura. David has studied coral reef resilience and adaptation his whole life. He founded CORDIO, a non-profit organisation specialising in finding solutions that benefit marine ecosystems and people. To find out more about IPBES, head to www.ipbes.net or follow us on social media @IPBES.

Prof. Kai Chan: Choose Your Own Adventure

In the IPBES Global Assessment report, we learnt that to safeguard all life on Earth, we need transformative change. So what does that mean? How can we make it happen? This week's guest is Kai Chan. He is a professor at the University of British Columbia and one of the Coordinating Lead Authors of the Global Assessment. To find out more about IPBES, head to www.ipbes.net or follow us on social media @IPBES.

Billy Offland, Dr. Anne Poelina: Wake up the Snake

How do we incorporate different knowledge systems in the battle for biodiversity? Billy Offland set off on a 2-year journey to learn about conservation from as many different people as possible. In his travels, he met Dr. Anne Poelina in the Kimberley in Western Australia. Anne is a Nyikina Warrwa Traditional Owner and chair of the Mardoowarra Fitzroy River Council.What can we learn from the Fitzroy River Council? How do we create "forever industries"? How can we use this knowledge in global policymaking?Music: River Feeling by Kalaji (Mark Coles Smith)To find out more about IPBES, head to www.ipbes.net or follow us on social media @IPBES.

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2020

My name is Emma, I’m 10 years old, and I live in Canada. I am sharing this video with you, today, because I learned at school that my future – the future of all children – will be determined by what we do together today.

Unite Behind Environmental Science: Transforming Values and Behaviour is as Important as Restoring Global Ecosystems

Restoring damaged ecosystems is vital to avoid the collapse of nature’s most valuable contributions to people, but International Day for Biological Diversity 2020 should also be a wake-up call about the importance of addressing our social, economic and systemic values, because it is these that are driving the destruction of nature.

Biological Diversity is Fundamental to Human Health

This year’s International Day of Biological Diversity falls amid the coronavirus pandemic and the slow easing, in some nations, of a global lockdown. While the lockdown has forced most people to stay at home, there have been reports of more wildlife being spotted - even in once-busy city centres. 

COVID-19 Stimulus Measures Must Save Lives, Protect Livelihoods, and Safeguard Nature to Reduce the Risk of Future Pandemics

There is a single species that is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic - us. As with the climate and biodiversity crises, recent pandemics are a direct consequence of human activity – particularly our global financial and economic systems, based on a limited paradigm that prizes economic growth at any cost. We have a small window of opportunity, in overcoming the challenges of the current crisis, to avoid sowing the seeds of future ones.