On Monday, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity releaseda draft plan of goals being put in place to help the threatened ecosystems.
A similar set of targets had been set in 2010 at a summit in Japan, though the world failed to meet them. Now, as the planet enters the sixth era of mass extinction, the UN says we face severe consequences from human survival moving forward — urging that the need to meet these goals are dire.
“Biodiversity, and the benefits it provides, is fundamental to human well-being and a healthy planet,” reads the draft plan. “Despite ongoing efforts, biodiversity is deteriorating worldwide and this decline is projected to continue or worsen under business-as-usual scenarios.”
The UN’s ambitious plan lays out 20 targets for the next decade, with “urgent action” required on both the local and global level.
They range from food sustainability to carbon emission reduction to benefit-sharing and clean water restoration. There are also goals to cut pollution from plastic wastes and biocides, promote education of biodiversity, as well as measurable steps laid out to ensure the legal, maintainable trade of all wild species.
A final version of the plan will be penned and put into effect at October’s biodiversity summit in Kunming, China.
It will take everyone’s active participation to make sure it works.
“All actors will need to help to raise awareness of the framework and of the need for whole-of-society engagement to implement it,” the draft says. “This includes the need for activities at the local, national, regional and global levels and the need to implement the framework in a way which is supportive of other relevant international processes and strategies.”
Back in 2019,the UN warned that climate change, pollution, and the rising demand on resources due to population growth has led to bothshrinking habitats and the exploitation and depletion of natural resources, CNN reported. All in all, a million of the world’s 8 million species facing extinction, the UN said.
source: people.com
