COP15, UN’s Biodiversity Conference to take action against extinction of species! 

COP 15, Goals and Start-Up  

In 1992, Earth summit created three COP conventions on climate change, desertification and biodiversity. COP 15, known as the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, is hard on the heels of the UN’s COP27 climate summit. 

COP15 is the fifteenth meeting of parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The CBD is a landmark international agreement that aims to fortify plant and animal species and their sustainable usage.  

COP15, the largest biodiversity conference in the world, sets goals to ensure species’ survival and stem the collapse of ecosystems across the world by helping each other. The summit takes place from December 7-19, 2022. Currently, millions of species are at risk of extinction. Remembering species that disappeared from the planet, the summit presented the dinosaur model. The Climate Fact Checks team decided to do an explainer on the COP15 to bring much-needed attention to biodiversity conservation.

Climate Change and Species Extinction 

The race to save the planet’s biodiversity is as urgent as the climate crisis. One-quarter of plant and animal species are threatened with extinction. 

In the present world, climate change threatens species extinction. Global warming, which has been raising sea temperatures, is harming coral reefs around the globe. Up to 2018, 14% of the world’s coral died out in the past nine years. Coral reefs support one-quarter of all marine species. One-quarter of marine species are in danger of extinction due to the threat posed by corals.   

Source: Red List Index/IUCN  

The international union for conservation of nature evaluates the severity of the Earth’s threatened species with its Red List. Of the group assessed thoroughly on the list, corals have lost the most species since 1980. Most other groups have also diminished to some extent. Melani Gunathilake’s insights were critically important when considering the Sri Lankan perspective. 

Melani Gunathilake, an expert on climate change, says 27% of bird species, from a total of 240 species, are at risk of extinction due to climate change. Additionally, 56% of mammals, 49% of fish species and 59% of reptiles are in danger of extinction due to the climate crisis in Sri Lanka.  

Out of the 3154 species of flowering plants identified in Sri Lanka, 1385 species are classified as threatened with extinction, Melani says. As plants are considered the primary producers, it plays a vital role in feeding the earth’s wildlife and humans. 

Of the known amphibian species, 66% are at threat, Melani says. According to a Mongabay analysis, the world has lost 130 amphibian species, 18 of them from Sri Lanka alone. That makes it the highest concentration of amphibian extinctions recorded in a single country. Read more here, Archived.

Even though climate change has not been entirely responsible for this cause, it remains the foremost contributor.  

Source: Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and ecosystems

The Ecosystem Services Global Assessment Report allows us to understand how fast species are becoming extinct in recent years. It shows a significant increase in the 1750s. The industrial revolution also started nearly a similar timeline. Accordingly, the graph shows substantial growth until the 1900s. Afterwards, the extinction rate rapidly increased, threatening millions of species. (see the first graph). The second graph shows the species’ survival rate in recent years, which also significantly decreased and corals were driven to deplete, threatening millions of marine species rapidly. 

What might happen if species disappear from the earth?  

Scientists have shown that ecosystems with less biodiversity could better capture and convert resources into biomass, as happens when plants capture nutrients or sunlight for growth.

Less-diverse ecosystems are inefficient in decomposing and recycling biological materials and nutrients. It slows down the nutrient cycles and decreases the growth of primary producers like plants. On top of everything, it distresses all kinds of organisms while leading to extinction.

Ecosystems with low biodiversity similarly have low resilience. The environment is constantly changing. Therefore, nature must balance itself in the face of environmental challenges. If not, ecosystems cannot bounce back after a shock, such as a fire, flood, or other natural disaster.

Species extinction leads to the breakdown of the food chain because each organism depends on someone else for survival. When a problem occurs, a producer or consumer is lost, and entire communities can collapse. 

Ecosystems provide lots of services. Every organism has a significant role in it. For example, considering access to clean water, many species of plants, aquatic organisms and microorganisms are involved in maintaining this condition while breaking down that mechanism affects the quality of services provided.

Challengers and Threat Assessment 

The leaders of some developing countries are expected to argue they need more money if they are to protect larger parts of their territories and grow their economies sustainably, reports The Guardian. 

Biodiversity loss is one of the biggest dangers we face, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2022, because over half of the global GDP is dependent on nature. 

We must protect 30% of terrestrial, inland water and marine areas by 2030. To ensure long-lasting protection. 

A million species under threat

Human activity threatens to wipe out more species now than ever, says the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

Around a million species are threatened with extinction unless taken action, IPBES research shows. The extinction rate is at least “tens to hundreds of times” higher than it has averaged over the past 10 million years. Species of birds, plants, mammals, reptiles, fish and insects are all under threat.

Solutions from COP15 

Protecting and conserving habitats is central to saving species. COP15 captured this focus area at the forum. The draft includes the goal of conserving at least 30% of the world’s land and sea by 2030. 

The expected outcome is the adoption of “the post-2020 global biodiversity framework”, aimed at halting the loss of biodiversity by agreeing on a program of actions to “live in harmony with nature” by 2050. 

It includes 21 targets for urgent action in the next ten years, including stopping discharges of plastic waste and reducing the use of pesticides.