Biodiversity - challenges and recommendations

Biodiversität All assessments agree on the devastating impacts of the increasing biodiversity loss and its’ interdependence with climate change. By analysing the stock-taking done in the assessments, we identified three core challenges that must be met in order to conserve and restore biodiversity: 1) the unsustainable use of natural resources due to structural issues inherent in our socio-economic systems, 2) social-economic inequalities; and 3) weak global governance. It is now evident that the increased scientific evidence, growing public understanding and political awareness of the importance of biodiversity, the extent of its loss, and the negative consequences for human well-being alone are at present not sufficient to stop, let alone reverse, biodiversity loss.

Recommendations for transformative change to address biodiversity loss range from local to national to international actions responding to the role of biodiversity as the underpinning fabric for human wellbeing. More integrative and holistic policy responses are called for ranging from more participative and socially inclusive actions to address inequality, a revised view on the use of policy, fiscal and market instruments to correct incentive structures that benefit wasteful and destructive use of natural resources, a decision-making process aiming to integrate more purposefully biodiversity loss and climate change action. For all this collaborative and intersectoral cooperation and reoriented (development) targets are necessary. Nationally and internationally, it is crucial to reorient public spending towards biodiversity conservation. As well as, directing the goals of private market stakeholders towards preserving biodiversity and eliminating negative impacts of human activity.