Urgent action needed to prevent mass extinction
Biodiversity/IPBES Report
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) of the United Nations will today present the first ever "Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services".
150 scientists from 50 countries have assessed the drastic situation facing global biodiversity and provide policy recommendations to achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Convention, the UN goals for sustainable development, and the Aichi biodiversity goals, to protect biodiversity and to halt the extinction of species. A quarter of the 100,000 species studied are already threatened as species extinction is accelerating.
Bas Eickhout, Greens/EFA spokesperson climate and lead candidate in the European elections for the European Green Party, comments:
"From insects to bees, birds to beasts, hundreds of thousands of species across our planet teeter on the edge of extinction. Biodiversity loss and the disappearance of whole species threatens people and the planet. We are on the verge of the next great mass extinction event and it is our doing. Today's report puts this in black and white, so that the science can speak for itself, but now politicians have to act fast.
"The fight to protect species and the fight to protect the climate are the same. European politicians must heed the words of the IPBES report and make the protection of biodiversity a top priority, hand in hand with saving the climate. We need an urgent U-turn in how we interact with nature for more climate protection and a sustainable Common Agricultural Policy.
"A worldwide ban on glyphosate, a mass reduction in the use of pesticides, a worldwide ban on plastics from the oceans, and a quick and definite end to deforestation of the rainforest can still stop the extinction of species and the loss of biodiversity, but we must act now.”
Background
The World Biodiversity Council is an intergovernmental organisation of the United Nations with its headquarters in Bonn. More than 120 countries are members. The report will be launched at 13:00 CET.
