UN body calls for urgent action on biodiversity crisis

New Delhi: Deep fundamental system-wide shifts are necessary to respond to the crises of biodiversity loss and collapse of ecosystems. A new report by the UN biodiversity science body, Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), makes it clear that incremental changes will not yield results, pointing out that delaying action even by a decade would double the cost if not addressed immediately.

The assessment report finds that benefits to nature aside, acting immediately could unlock $10 trillion in business and innovation opportunities and 395 million jobs by 2030.

The Assessment Report on the Underlying Causes of Biodiversity Loss and the Determinants of Transformative Change and Options for Achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity was released on Wednesday in Windhoek, Namibia. The report, prepared over three years by more than 100 leading experts from 42 countries from all regions explains what transformative change is, how it occurs, and how to accelerate it for a just and sustainable world.

Transformational change refers to the fundamental, system-wide reorganisation across technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values.

Karen O'Brien, co-chair of the assessment report, said embarking on transformational change was "urgent," given the "closing window of opportunity to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and to prevent triggering the potentially irreversible decline and the projected collapse of key ecosystem functions."

Without a system wide change, scientists warn that there is a serious risk of crossing several irreversible biophysical tipping points.