IPBES Report on Natural Ecosystems and Biodiversity

Why in news?

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) recently released a report.

What is IPBES?

IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body, established by member States in 2012.
It is a global scientific body, similar in composition and functioning to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
IPCC’s assessment reports form the scientific basis on which the international negotiations on climate change have been happening.
IPBES is often described as the “IPCC for biodiversity”, as it is mandated to do a similar job for natural ecosystems and biodiversity.
The objective is to strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services.

How does it differ from IPCC?

Like IPCC, IPBES does not produce any new science. It only evaluates existing scientific knowledge to make assessments and projections.
However, unlike IPCC, the IPBES assessment reports are likely to feed into and inform several multilateral processes.
Two UN Conventions are likely to be guided by this report in future, -

Convention on Biological Diversity that addresses biodiversity issues
Convention on Combating Desertification that deals with sustainable land management

Besides, the Ramsar Convention, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and Cartagena Protocol may also find some inputs.

What is the present report on?

The present one is the first global assessment report by the IPBES. [IPCC, set up in 1988, has produced 5 reports so far.]
It includes a systematic review of 15,000 scientific and government sources and resources collected from indigenous and local knowledge.

The IPBES report makes a comprehensive scientific evaluation of the state of Earth's natural ecosystems.
It gives a detailed account of health of the species that inhabit earth and the condition of habitats that they live in and depend upon.
It ranks “five direct drivers” that cause changes in nature that have the largest relative global impact.
In descending order, these include:

What are the key findings?

The health of ecosystems that humans and other species depend on is “deteriorating more rapidly than ever”.
As many as 1 million different species are facing the threat of extinction, more than at any previous time.
This is out of a total of an estimated 8 million plant and animal species.
The threat is because of changes brought about in natural environments by human activities.
The current rate of global species extinction is “tens to hundreds of times” higher compared to the average over the last 10 million years.
Even for global warming of 1.5 to 2 degree Celsius, the majority of terrestrial species ranges are projected to shrink profoundly.
Natural habitats are being destroyed at an accelerating pace.
75% of earth’s land surface and 66% marine environments have been “significantly altered”.
Over 85% of wetland area had been lost.
But, on an average, these trends were less severe on areas controlled or managed by indigenous people and local communities like the tribes.
The negative trends in nature are expected to continue to 2050 and beyond in all of the policy scenarios explored in the assessment.

What is the relevance for India?

The report does not have country-specific information.
However, India can identify with most of the trends pointed out in the report.
The major biodiversity hotspot, vast areas, especially the coastline, of which are under tremendous stress due to large population, makes some findings very relevant to India.
E.g. 23% of global land area had shown a reduction in productivity due to degradation
Also, 100 to 300 million people are said to be at an increased risk of floods and hurricanes due to loss of coastal habitats and protection.
The other findings in connection with India include the following:

plastic pollution had increased 10 times from 1980
the number of large dams (those with a height of 15 m or more) had reached almost 50,000
human population had more than doubled since 1970s
the number of urban areas had doubled since 1992

All these trends have been clearly visible in the case of India and thus bring with them the associated risks to natural ecosystems.

What is the way forward?

The report says there is still an opportunity for human beings to live in harmony with nature.
But there has to be a change in the way how natural resources are governed, and things are produced and consumed.
This is inevitable in terms of economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.

Source: Indian Express