The Government of Spain, through a representation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition, has participated in the VIIth plenary meeting of the intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES), held between April 29 and May 4
The Government of Spain, through a representation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, has participated in the VIIth plenary meeting of the intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES), held between April 29 and May 4 and whose main results have been publicly presented today in Paris. At this meeting, the Global Assessment on Biodiversity and the State of Ecosystem Services was approved, which constitutes the most complete scientific review carried out to date on the state of the planet’s natural heritage. The study, which has more than 450 scientific contributions – including from Spain – concludes that nature is declining at a rate unprecedented in the history of humanity and that around one million species are in danger of extinction.
The assessment is a fundamental knowledge base to guide decision-making on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Its findings will be particularly relevant for the development of the next international biodiversity framework for the post-2020 period, which is expected to be adopted at the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), to be held in the city of Kunming, China, in 2020.
The global assessment confirms that over the past 50 years, biodiversity and ecosystem services, essential elements for human existence and well-being, are deteriorating worldwide and at a faster rate than ever before: 75% of the earth’s surface has undergone significant alteration; More than 85% of wetland area has been lost and 66% of ocean surface is experiencing cumulative effects. About 25% of the animal and plant species assessed are threatened (more than 40% of amphibians, almost 33% of reef corals, and more than a third of marine mammals, among other results). More than 9% of domesticated mammal breeds were extinct by 2016 and at least another 1,000 breeds are threatened.
FUNDAMENTAL ROLE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
The report confirms the fundamental role that nature plays in the provision of basic goods and services for humanity, such as food and feed, energy, medicines or genetic resources. Through ecological processes, ecosystems sustain fundamental services to guarantee the quality of the air, fresh water and soils on which our survival depends, regulate the climate, promote pollination and pest control and reduce the effects of natural hazards. For example, marine and terrestrial ecosystems function as sinks for anthropogenic carbon emissions, with a gross carbon absorption of 5.6 billion tonnes of carbon per year (equivalent to 60% of anthropogenic global emissions).
According to the assessment, prioritizing certain ecosystem services over others, (e.g. a focus on food production services and other raw materials without adequately addressing their consequences for biodiversity), may lead to ecological changes that limit the ability of ecosystems to fulfil other vital functions for society, such as air and climate regulation and water quality. Thus, while trends in agricultural production, fisheries, bioenergy production, and material harvesting have increased since 1970, other ecosystem services assessed, such as soil organic carbon and pollination, have declined. Currently, land degradation accounts for a 23% reduction in global productivity, and the loss of pollinators threatens the annual production of many crops globally, worth between $235 billion and $577 billion.
However, as noted in the study, there are also significant opportunities for synergies, such as sustainable agricultural practices that improve soil quality and productivity, as well as other services such as carbon sequestration and water quality regulation.
MAIN CAUSES OF BIODIVERSITY LOSS
The global assessment identifies the main drivers of biodiversity loss, which, in order of relevance, are: land and sea use change, species exploitation, climate change, pollution and invasive alien species.
In particular, climate change is a direct driver and, at the same time, increasingly amplifies the effects of other drivers on nature and human well-being, with notable effects on species distribution, phenology, population dynamics, community structure and ecosystem function. In addition, according to the authors of the study, climate change is expected to be increasingly important as a direct driver of changes in nature.
All these drivers are, in turn, the result of a series of underlying causes determined by social values and behaviours, related to production and consumption habits, human population dynamics and trends, trade, technological innovations and governance systems.
As a result of this rapid decline in biodiversity, the assessment confirms that, if current trends continue, it will not be possible to achieve most international environmental goals, including the biodiversity targets – the Aichi Targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity – and climate change. Similarly, it considers it key to develop nature-based solutions to achieve the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In order to conserve, restore and sustainably use nature while simultaneously achieving other global societal goals, the assessment notes that coordinated initiatives that promote transformative change urgently need to be pursued. In fact, the report lists five “lever” interventions to generate this transformation: 1) incentives and capacity building; (2) intersectoral cooperation; 3) preventive measures; 4) decision-making in a context of resilience and uncertainty, and 5) environmental law and its application.
Among other actions, the assessment cites the incorporation of the values of ecosystem functions into economic incentives and climate change mitigation activities that take into account biodiversity aspects.
WORK PROGRAMME TO 2030
The 7th Plenary Session adopted the IPBES work programme to 2030, with the aim of further strengthening the four functions of the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services. To this end, this renewed work programme will focus in the coming years on three priority issues: improving knowledge on the importance of biodiversity for the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda; advance the understanding of the underlying causes of biodiversity loss and the elements needed for transformative change to enable changes in current trends of biodiversity loss; and quantifying the impacts and dependence of companies on biodiversity.
In line with these thematic priorities, it has been agreed to immediately initiate the work necessary for the preparation of two new thematic evaluations. The first will focus on the links between biological biodiversity, water, food and health; and the second will address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss and the elements for achieving transformative change.
In addition, in the coming years, a technical paper on the linkages between biodiversity and climate change, as well as a methodological assessment of the impacts of business activities on biodiversity and ecosystem services, is expected to be prepared in coordination and collaboration with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). To this end, during the seventh plenary meeting, the institutional and financial arrangements necessary for the development of the planned work were finalized, and the budget for the operation of the platform during this biennium was approved.
EUROBAROMETER ON BIODIVERSITY
The presentation of the IPBES assessment coincided with the publication of Eurobarometer 481 on Europeans’ attitudes towards biodiversity. Both in the EU as a whole and in the survey for Spain, the percentage of people who know the meaning of the term biodiversity has increased: 41% in both cases. 27% of Spaniards have not heard of the term, which is 4 percentage points less than the previous survey, carried out in 2015.
The vast majority of respondents – with percentages exceeding 90% in all cases – agree with the following statements: we have a responsibility to care for nature; protecting nature is fundamental to addressing climate change; our health and well-being are based on the good state of nature and biodiversity; biodiversity and the health of nature are important for our long-term economic development; and Biodiversity is indispensable in the production of goods such as food, materials and medicines.
Spaniards – like Europeans as a whole – consider that the main threat to biodiversity is air, soil and water pollution (99%), followed by disasters caused by humans (98%); climate change (96%); intensive agricultural and forestry activity and overfishing (92%); the transformation of the use of natural areas (92%); the modification or fragmentation of natural areas due to transport, energy infrastructures (90%) and the presence of invasive alien species (81%), whose degree of concern decreases by five percentage points.
For Spaniards, the most important action the EU can take to protect biodiversity is to strengthen existing legislation on nature and biodiversity conservation. 51% of Spaniards agree to carry out this measure. It is followed by the restoration of nature and biodiversity to compensate for the damage caused by human activity or infrastructures (47%), the improvement in the information provided to citizens (44%), the increase in protected areas (43%) or the better implementation of existing legislation relating to nature conservation (42%).
KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE NATURA 2000 NETWORK
While in the EU the percentage of people who know about the Natura 2000 network, the community network of protected areas, has increased slightly, in Spain it has decreased. Only 11% of Europeans and 6% of Spaniards know what it is, while 19% of EU citizens and 16% of Spaniards have ever heard of it.
When citizens are asked for their opinion in cases where economic development damages or destroys the nature of protected areas such as Natura 2000, 90% of Spaniards consider this to be unacceptable or should only be unacceptable in cases of great public interest of the highest order and only if the damage is reversed through various compensatory measures. Only 6% consider this to be acceptable.
