The VIIth plenary meeting of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has approved the Global Assessment on Biodiversity and the State of Ecosystem Services, a study that warns that one million species are in danger of extinction.

Yesterday the report of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) was presented in Paris, which has held its seventh meeting these days. Within the framework of the same , the Global Assessment on Biodiversity and the State of Ecosystem Services has been approved, which constitutes the most complete scientific review carried out on the state of the planet’s natural heritage. A study that concludes that around one million species are in danger of extinction. The text, which has more than 450 scientific contributions – including from Spain – concludes that nature is declining at a rate unprecedented in the history of humanity.

The IPBES study 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. Thus, the text offers some data that leave no room for doubt about the loss of biodiversity:  75% of the earth’s surface has undergone considerable alterations; 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). By 2016, more than 9% of domesticated mammal breeds were extinct and at least 1,000 more breeds are threatened.

The text ratifies the decisive role that nature plays in the provision of basic goods and services for humanity, since it supplies food and feed, energy, medicines or genetic resources, among others. 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).

Drivers of biodiversity loss
The global assessment identifies a number of factors as the main drivers of biodiversity loss: land and sea use change, species exploitation, climate change, pollution and invasive alien species, in that order.

Specifically, climate change, the report explains, It is a direct driver that in turn and increasingly expands 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 in terms of bringing about changes in nature.

All these factors are the result of a series of underlying causes determined by the hand of man and related to production and consumption habits, human population dynamics and trends, trade, technological innovations and governance systems.

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 achieve nature-based solutions to meet the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

These findings provide an essential knowledge base to guide decision-making on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. These conclusions will be key to 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), which will take place in the Chinese city of Kunming, in 2020.

The Biodiversity Foundation works to protect natural heritage and biodiversity, act against climate change and promote the green economy. You can learn how we work in the conservation of the  terrestrial biodiversity, marine biodiversity and in terms of climate change and environmental quality.