Two new experiences from the World Biodiversity Council | EUROtoday

Fünf Jahre ist es her, dass der Weltbiodiversitätsrat IPBES die Krise der Natur in Zahlen gefasst hat, die seitdem unbehagliches Allgemeinwissen geworden sind: Gerade vollzieht sich ein Artensterben, wie es in den vergangenen zehn Millionen Jahren nicht vorgekommen ist, in einem um das Zehn- bis Hundertfache größeren Ausmaß. Eine Million Arten könnte in den nächsten Jahrzehnten für immer verschwinden.

Seit das „Global Assessment“ zum Zustand der Natur erschienen ist, haben sich die Länder der Welt mit dem Weltnaturabkommen einen Fahrplan gegeben, der den Verlust von Natur, von der auch die menschlichen Lebensgrundlagen abhängen, aufhalten soll. Die Umsetzung ist zäh, eine Trendwende noch nicht auszumachen. Gewachsen ist vielmehr das Gefühl, dass die nötigen Veränderungen kaum zu schaffen, die Beharrungskräfte zu groß sind.

Nun meldet sich der Weltbiodiversitätsrat mit zwei neuen Publikation zu Wort. Eine widmet sich genau jenen Veränderungen und der Frage, wie sie erreicht werden. Die andere konstatiert die Notwendigkeit eines ganzheitlichen Blicks auf fünf zentrale und potentiell krisenhafte Bereiche: Biodiversität, Wasser, Ernährung, Gesundheit, Klima.

Mit dem am Mittwoch erschienenen Bericht zum „transformativen Wandel“ begibt sich das zwischenstaatliche Gremium, gegründet, um die Politik zum Thema biologische Vielfalt und Ökosystemleistungen zu beraten, weit auf das Gebiet der Sozialwissenschaften. Der Terminus des „transformativen Wandels“ kursiere seit Längerem, ohne klar definiert zu sein, sagt Leitautor Yves Zinngrebe vom Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung und Leitautor eines Kapitels. Ziel sei gewesen, die wissenschaftlichen Debatten rund um den Begriff zusammenzuführen und einen einheitlichen konzeptionellen Ansatz zu erarbeiten. Entstanden ist eine Art Handbuch der Transformation hin zu einer nachhaltigen Lebens- und Wirtschaftsweise, das sich auf eine Metaebene begibt, auf der es notwendigerweise abstrakt wird. Die Gründe für die Biodiversitätskrise, von Landnutzung bis Klimawandel, sind längst bekannt.

According to the report, how this happened can be summarized in three points: the loss of a connection with nature, the unequal distribution of power and wealth, and the focus on short-term individual and material benefits. One can read nothing less than a criticism of the Western model of life. What is needed, according to the definition of “transformative change,” is a basic, system-wide change in methods of considering, buildings and financial practices. An instance of how that is potential is the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, which set Western societies on a path that’s now turning out to be a useless finish in some features.

To reverse gear, the report identifies a number of methods, supported by examples, that have an effect on policymakers and civil society. The needed systemic change within the sectors chargeable for biodiversity loss is illustrated, for instance, by fishing in New Zealand, the place strict sustainability standards have been launched. As a end result, overfishing decreased, marine biodiversity recovered, and coastal residents can as soon as once more make a residing from fishing.

Another technique is to protect landscapes particularly which are vital for nature, but additionally for individuals – which calls into query a paradigm of nature conservation that always prefers to separate individuals and nature. The report repeatedly highlights the function of indigenous communities when it comes to each their sustainable use of ecosystems and their self-image as a part of nature. However, how and whether or not such a relationship to nature, which is commonly spiritually based mostly, can present inspiration for overcoming the established alienation in industrial societies – one other technique – stays open.

The different IPBES research revealed on Tuesday additionally takes a higher-level perspective. The “Nexus Report” requires a holistic view of what the researchers determine because the 5 central downside areas within the human-planet relationship: biodiversity, local weather, water, well being, diet. It is frequent follow to take a look at every space individually and ignore the interactions. The supposed answer to 1 downside usually triggers one other. In the northeastern United States, about 90 % of bats died from a fungal illness. They had been lacking as pest destroyers, which led farmers to extend their use of pesticides by as much as 30 %.

It was solely the analysis of an economist that exposed that the sudden eight % improve in toddler mortality within the area needed to be linked to the pesticides that obtained into the water and likewise into the placenta. “The cascading effects that can occur when a crisis is viewed individually are often not seen,” says lead writer Pamela McElwee, a professor of human ecology at Rutgers University. “Costs and risks are passed on unnoticed. In this case, to the mothers.”

Costs not taken under consideration within the numerous areas of the nexus will be quantified: ten to $25 trillion, based on the IPBES report. The downside, says McElwee, is that these numbers do not present up in monetary plans. Health prices are significantly vital. Nine million individuals die yearly from air air pollution. Obesity and diabetes are growing in wealthy nations, a results of consuming habits made potential by industrialized meals manufacturing, which in flip harms biodiversity, reduces water high quality, and will increase greenhouse gasoline emissions.

Conversely, the report additionally incorporates examples of the optimistic interactions a holistic strategy can create. Schistosomiasis, for instance, also called schistosomiasis, a illness brought on by the Schistosoma worm that impacts 200 million individuals, particularly in Africa, has been vastly lowered in Senegal. Instead of simply administering medicine, the waters had been taken under consideration. A sure invasive plant species was eliminated that the snails wherein the worm’s larvae develop are significantly keen on consuming. The variety of kids contaminated with schistosomiasis fell by 32 %.