We need a global plan to save the systems that keep us alive in December!

Posted on 9 December 2022

Biodiversity is the variety of life forms. It is all the animal and plant species on our planet and more: biodiversity provides us with the resources we need to survive, like the oxygen we breathe. Without it, we would die.

Biodiversity heals us: in the last 40 years, more than 2,500 chemical substances have been discovered in marine plants and animals and we use them to make our medicines.
Biodiversity brings us money, for example through agriculture and soil fertility, fishing and marine resources, and tourism. According to an experiment carried out by CNRS researchers in France, insect pollination was estimated to be worth 150 billion euros in 2005.
However, biodiversity has never suffered so much.

Today, populations of wild species worldwide have decreased by 69% compared to 1970 according to the WWF Living Planet Report 2022. Beyond the threats to wildlife, flora is also impacted by human actions, making the environment more vulnerable to climate change.
Nature needs us.

For the WWF, here are the priorities for an ambitious global framework for biodiversity:
- Biodiversity loss must be halted and reversed by 2030 for a world with a positive nature;
- Countries must commit to a conservation target of at least 30% of the world's land, inland waters and oceans by 2030 through a rights-based approach (of local communities and indigenous peoples) that allows for the participation of all of society;
- The global footprint of production and consumption must be halved by 2030;
- A comprehensive resource mobilization strategy is needed to finance the implementation of this global biodiversity framework;
- A robust implementation mechanism is needed that offers revisions and ratcheting actions over time, a pact similar to the 2015 Paris climate agreement but for nature, with clear indicators to measure progress;
- The inclusion of equitable, rights-based nature-based solutions alongside ecosystem-based approaches to deliver shared benefits for people and nature;

All decisions and commitments to secure these work streams must be made and acted upon at the 15th Conference of the Parties on Biological Diversity, CBD COP15, which takes place in Montreal, Canada from December 7-19. This would also be the ideal opportunity for young people to be heard, to act and to show their involvement in the conservation of biodiversity. All together, for nature, for Madagascar!