New Intergovernmental Panel report demands comprehensive commitments to deal with crisis in the natural world.
A Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services was released by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. It demonstrates that we are living in a crisis of the natural world – with one million species at risk of imminent extinction globally – and the findings demand urgent political action says the National Parks Association of NSW (NPA).
It is clear that the crisis in the natural world is every bit as pressing as the climate crisis, and both must be addressed if we are to avoid extinctions, land degradation, impacts on food supply and the loss of the huge benefits that nature provides to human societies and health.
The dual climate and biodiversity crises are closely linked, and it is this link that offers governments a clear pathway forward says Dr Oisín Sweeney, Senior Ecologist with NPA.
“There is growing international recognition that protecting intact ecosystems and restoring degraded ones – like forests, woodlands, wetlands, grasslands, peatlands, seagrasses and mangroves – can maximise the amount of carbon sucked out of the atmosphere and locked away.
“Of course, by restoring ecosystems, we also make them better able to support larger populations of wildlife, thereby decreasing extinction risk.
“Politicians must realise, and realise fast, that the nature and climate crises are inextricably linked. We need politicians with the vision and courage to grasp the nettle and change Australia from laggard to leader on nature and climate.”
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