The window of opportunity to address climate change and biodiversity loss is closing rapidly, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) seven Commissions asserted in a clarion call ahead of the COP28 Summit in Dubai.
In an open letter, the chair of seven IUCN Commissions called for a “bold and transformative effort” to solve the challenges linked to climate change and biodiversity loss.
As the seven elected Commission Chairs of the IUCN, they represent over 15,000 scientists, scholars, policymakers, economists, lawyers, and other experts who work on issues related to this mission. COP 28 will take place from November 30 until December 12.
“For the first time, we are writing collectively because COP28 represents not just an opportunity to assess our progress, but to issue a profound call to action. We must adopt a holistic approach that recognizes the interdependence of the climate and biodiversity crises,” the letter mentioned.
The seven commissions are the IUCN Climate Crisis Commission, the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication, the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management, the IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic, and Social Policy, the IUCN Species Survival Commission, the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law and IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas.
The experts have suggested four key elements — integration, ecosystem integrity, transformation and urgency — that should guide debates at COP28 and beyond over how best to design and deploy innovative solutions to biodiversity loss and climate change.
Under Integration, The IUCN Commissions chair mentioned that the climate challenges require coherent, consistent, and integrated efforts on the part of governments at all levels, sectors, and systems; multilateral and bilateral institutions; communities; businesses; scientists and others to limit global warming to maximum 1.5 degrees Celsius.
While talking about ecosystem integrity, the experts put forth that sustaining healthy ecosystems is essential to halting biodiversity decline and species extinctions and to maintaining ecosystem services that underpin human well-being.
“Addressing the biodiversity and climate crises will require systemic changes in the way we live, changes that can only be achieved through rapid and far-reaching actions across all sectors of a type, scale, and speed never before attempted,” the experts said while emphasising on the need for transformation to address climate change.
While highlighting the urgency of the situation, the letter mentioned: “The window of opportunity to address climate change and biodiversity loss is still open, but it is closing rapidly”.
The letter also spoke about the limitations of previous policies tackling climate change.
“Previous policies have largely tackled the problems of climate change and biodiversity loss independently. Policies that address synergies between mitigating biodiversity loss and climate change, while also considering their societal impacts, offer the opportunity to maximize co-benefits and help meet development aspirations for all,” the letter read.
UN Climate Change conferences (or COPs) take place every year and are the world’s only multilateral decision-making forum on climate change with almost complete membership of every country in the world.
More than 70,000 delegates are expected to attend COP28, including the member states (or Parties) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Business leaders, young people, climate scientists, Indigenous Peoples, journalists, and various other experts and stakeholders are also among the participants.
(with inputs from ANI)
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