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(Relevance: UPSC is asking questions about new environmental protection initiatives launched at the global level. In 2016, the question was asked about Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB). Therefore, it is important to stay updated with the latest reports issued by international organizations. Data from these reports can be used in major and essay writing.)
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a global group of scientific experts, has released an assessment report on the interrelationships between biodiversity, water, food and health – called the Nexus Report. This is a first-of-its-kind report looking at the interrelationships between these multiple crises. The group examined five key challenges – climate change, biodiversity loss, food insecurity, water scarcity and health risks – and how they are interconnected.
Key takeaways:
1. Yes IPBES Biodiversity and Natural ecosystems The best known is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for what climate change is. It periodically examines all existing scientific knowledge of biodiversity and nature to assess their current status.
2. IPBES was established in 2012 and produced its first report in 2019 in which it assessed threats to global biodiversity. That report found that nearly one million different species of plants and animals, out of an estimated total of eight million, are facing the threat of extinction, more than ever before, mainly due to changes in natural ecosystems caused by human activities.
3. A 2019 report notes that nearly 75 percent of Earth’s land surface and 66 percent of the ocean environment have “significantly changed” and more than 85 percent of wetlands have been “lost.” The information in this report formed the basis for the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
4. The The Nexus Report highlighted the strong interrelationships between the five identified global challenges. Its main takeaway is that responses to all these challenges need to be coordinated so that positive actions taken in one of these do not have a negative impact on the others, which is very likely, as exemplified in many current approaches.
5. For example, efforts to scale food production, an affirmative action to combat hunger and malnutrition, may have the unintended consequences of increasing stress on land and water resources and biodiversity.
6. The report argues that its adoption was important synergistic approach which provides benefits across the spectrum. Examples of such reactive measures include restoration of carbon-rich ecosystems such as forests, soils, and mangroves, effective management of biodiversity to reduce the risk of transmissible diseases from animals to humans, promotion of sustainable healthy diets, and reliance on nature-based solutions whenever possible. .
7. The Nexus report emphasizes that nature and biodiversity are important not only for environmental and aesthetic reasons, but also for purely economic reasons. It pointed out that more than half of global GDP – about $58 trillion in annual economic activity – was moderately to highly dependent on nature. Degradation of natural ecosystems can directly affect productivity and adversely affect economic output.
8. The main message of the Nexus report is that if current trends in dealing with climate change continue, the consequences for biodiversity, water quality and human health will be dire. Similarly, focusing on maximizing the outcomes of only one part of the nexus in isolation can lead to negative outcomes for other nexus elements.
Key figures from the Nexus report
📍The Nexus Report found that there is a 2-6 percent loss in biodiversity per decade in all evaluated indicators for the last 30-50 years.
📍More than 50 percent The world’s population lives in areas most affected by the decline in biodiversity, water availability and quality and food security, increased health risks and the negative effects of climate change.
More than 📍 50 percent of global GDP (about $58 trillion), according to 2023 estimates, are moderately to highly dependent in nature.
📍 guess $1 trillion annual financing gap To meet global resource needs for biodiversity.
BEYOND THE NUGGET: The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
DRC Environment Minister Eve Bazaiba Masoudi with Brazilian Foreign Minister Leonardo Cleaver de Ethede (left) and Indonesia’s Daniel TS Simanjuntak at COP15 (2022) on Biodiversity in Montreal. Ap
1. KM-GBF was adopted in 2022 15th meeting under Convention on Biological Diversity And 196 countries agreed to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 to achieve a nature-positive world.
2. It provided a set of four goals and 23 goals commonly referred to as 30×30 Goal: A commitment to protect at least 30 percent of the world’s land, oceans, and coastal areas by 2030. A related commitment is to ensure that restoration activities are initiated in at least 30 percent of land or marine ecosystems by 2030.
3. The overall goal is to ensure that all natural ecosystems are “adequately” maintained, enhanced or restored by 2050 with an overall increase in the area of natural ecosystems. Another goal is to ensure a tenfold reduction in extinction rates. species – currently estimated to be tens of hundreds of times more than the average of the past 10 million years.
4. India has submitted its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) which outlines 23 national biodiversity targets at the annual United Nations Conference on Biodiversity in Cali, Colombia, which concluded last month.
(Source: With 23 National Targets, India Submits Biodiversity Conservation Plan to Global Body, Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss Linked: Key Takeaways from Nexus Report)
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