| Biodiversity
Why is Biodiversity and
Ecosystems relevant to Business?
All businesses, regardless of size, sector
and location, ultimately depend on biodiversity. Whilst
businesses can have a major direct and indirect impact
on biodiversity, they also possess biodiversity relevant
knowledge, technical resources and managerial skills.
In turn, how companies manage biodiversity is, increasingly,
seen as relevant to their bottom line performance.
Key Initiatives
Potsdam
initiative (March 2007)
Biodiversity
Agenda of the EU Presidencies of Germany, Portugal and
Slovenia (November 2007).
The
Lisbon Declaration in November 2007.
Kobe
Call for Action for Biodiversity, May 2008
About Biodiversity
An estimated 40 per cent of the global economy
is based on biological products and processes. Poor
people, especially those living in areas of low agricultural
productivity, depend especially heavily on the genetic
diversity of the environment. The effective use of biodiversity
at all levels - genes, species and ecosystems - is therefore
a precondition for sustainable development. However,
human activities the world over are causing the progressive
loss of species of plants and animals at a rate far
higher than the natural background rate of extinction.
Biodiversity refers to the uncounted variety of living
things on the planet. These living organisms, interacting
among themselves and with the non-living environment,
comprise the ecosystems of the world. They supply food,
medicines, timber and fuel, and play a fundamental role
in providing breathable air, conserving soils and stabilizing
climates.
These benefits, or ‘ecosystem services’, which are
ultimately essential for human life on earth, are the
basis of a range of industries, from agriculture and
biotechnology to fisheries and ecotourism.
Convention on Biological
Diversity
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an international
legally-binding treaty with three main goals: conservation
of biodiversity; sustainable use of biodiversity; fair
and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the
use of genetic resources. Its overall objective is to
encourage actions which will lead to a sustainable future.
The conservation of biodiversity is a common concern
of humankind. The Convention on
Biological Diversity covers biodiversity at all levels:
ecosystems, species and genetic resources. It also covers
biotechnology including through the Cartagena Protocol
on Biosafety. In fact, it covers all possible domains
that are directly or indirectly related to biodiversity
and its role in development, ranging from science, politics
and education to agriculture, business, culture and
much more.
The CBD’s governing body is the Conference of the Parties
(COP). This ultimate authority of all governments (or
Parties) that have ratified the treaty meets every two
years to review progress, set priorities and commit
to work plans.
The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity
(SCBD) is based in Montreal,
Canada. Its main function is to assist governments in
the implementation of the CBD and
its programmes of work, to organize meetings, draft
documents, and coordinate with other international organizations
and collect and spread information. The Executive Secretary
is the head of the Secretariat.
Agricultural Biodiversity
While modern agriculture has enabled food production
to increase, contributing much to
improving food security and reducing poverty, it has
also been responsible for considerable damage to biodiversity,
primarily through land-use conversion but also through
overexploitation, intensification of agricultural production
systems, excessive chemical and water use, nutrient
loading, pollution and introduction of alien species.
Although farmers’ traditional knowledge is central
to both sustaining biodiversity and ensuring global
food security, today it is as well considered by many
to be part of the much-threatened global commons. Farmers
are requested to both preserve biodiversity and contribute
to meet the nutritional needs of a growing population.
However, they do not control all factors involved including
those related to agricultural policies, incentives,
markets or consumption patterns, and therefore need
support from government policy.
To ensure food security, adequate nutrition and stable
livelihoods for all human beings, we must adopt sustainable
and efficient agriculture, sustainable consumption and
preserve biodiversity.
Close to a quarter of the world’s population (1.3 billion
people) work in agriculture
Agriculture accounts for 44% of methane emissions and
about 70% of nitrous oxide
gases
20% of CO2 emissions in the 1990s originated from land
use changes, mostly
deforestation (MA)
Soil worldwide is being lost at a rate of 13 to 18 times
faster than it is being formed.
Forest Biodiversity
Tropical, temperate and boreal forests offer a diverse
set of habitats for plants, animals and micro-organisms.
Consequently forests hold the majority of the world’s
terrestrial species. However these biologically rich
systems are increasingly threatened, largely as a result
of human activity
In the last 8000 years about 45% of the Earth's original
forest cover has disappeared, cleared mostly during
the past century. The Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations (FAO) recently estimated that
about 13 million hectares of the world’s forests are
lost due to deforestation each year. The annual net
loss of forest area between 2000 and 2005 was 7.3 million
hectares (equivalent to the net loss of 0.18 percent
of the world’s forests). Reducing and/or preventing
deforestation is an important mitigation option as the
release of carbon as emissions into the atmosphere is
prevented.
Deforestation is occurring at a rate of approximately
13 million hectares per year, an area about 50 times
the size of Luxembourg or 180 times the size of Singapore
(FAO, 2007). Tropical deforestation is a major cause
of biodiversity loss. It also results in the release
of carbon dioxide (with small amounts of carbon monoxide
and methane), a major cause of climate change
Mountain Biodiversity
Many mountain ecosystems are host to higher species
richness and levels of endemism than adjacent lowlands.
Mountains at lower altitudes can support exceptional
biodiversity, due to compression of a wide range of
ecosystems into a relatively short distance. Mountains
also often provide islands of suitable habitat, isolated
from unfavourable surrounding lowlands.
Mountain species with narrow habitat tolerance, particularly
higher elevation forms and those with low dispersal
capacity, are at high risk from the environmental effects
of climate change.
Mountain environments cover some 27% of the world’s
land surface, and directly support the 22% of the world’s
people who live within mountain regions. Lowland people
also depend on mountain environments for a wide range
of goods and services, including water, energy, timber,
biodiversity maintenance, and opportunities for recreation
and spiritual renewal. Mountains provide for the freshwater
needs of more than half of humanity, and are, in effect,
the water towers of the world.
Mountain biodiversity plays a key role in the support
of global environmental, economic, social and cultural
sectors through connections to; invasive species, air
pollution, climate change, mining, hydropower, tourism,
forests, agriculture. Therefore the challenge is to
sustainably manage mountain regions to avoid degradation
and avoid subsequent increases in poverty and hunger.
How will our seas look
in 2050?
UNEP launches Marine Biodiversity Assessment
and Outlook reports
Rising pollution, the effects of climate change and
over-fishing are threatening the future of marine biodiversity
across the globe
Go
to report
International efforts to save dugongs, the world's
last remaining 'mermaids'
Dugongs are believed to have been at the origin of mermaid
legends when spotted swimming in the water from a distance.
Go
to report
Green Goes Mainstream:
Biodiversity Is Climbing the Corporate Agenda
The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity(TEEB) for
Business Report indicates that corporate chiefs who
fail to make sustainable management
Go
to report
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