Weekly Blog - 22 May 2023 - Biological Diversity
International Day for Biological Diversity
This Monday 22 May is the International Day for Biological Diversity, when the world celebrates the wonder and diversity of all the plants and animals in creation. This year the theme for the day is ‘From Agreement to Action: Build Back Biodiversity’. There will be a real focus on seeking to implement the agreements made at last December’s UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) on a new global framework to protect and preserve biodiversity up to 2030.
Massive decline in wildlife
And the world’s wildlife badly needs protecting. Last October the World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London released the latest edition of their biannual Living Planet Report. The report was first released in 1970, and since then every year it has tracked the number of species in the world, and the numbers in each species, compared with that 1970 baseline. The 2022 Report revealed a shocking decline in biodiversity since 1970. In just over 50 years, global wildlife populations have dropped on average by 69% around the world. Some continents have experienced an even sharper decline, like Latin America and the Caribbean which has lost a devastating 94% of all its wildlife since 1970.
In many parts of the world this dramatic change, well within a single human lifespan, can be very clearly seen. Richard, a friend of Arise from central Nigeria, recalls, “When I was young there used to be so many wild animals around here when I was growing up, elephants, giraffe, lions. I want my sons to see them, but now it is so dry, they are all gone. There is nothing.”
The reasons for this appalling decline are entirely human created. The destruction of natural habitats is the primary cause, through activities like deforestation, the conversion of previously wild lands for farming, the overuse of precious fresh water in agriculture, or overfishing of the oceans. Global climate change caused by human induced greenhouse gas emissions is also having a devastating impact on natural habitats. Other causes like pollution from human industrial activity, and the introduction of non-native species into different parts of the world (which then take over habitats and food sources from local populations) as a result of human trade and travel are also key factors.
We are driving plants and animals to extinction and destroying the world’s biodiversity at a terrifying rate, not only devastating God’s beautiful creation, but dangerously degrading the complex and finely balanced ecosystems on which all life, including humanity, depends. The Millennium Ecosystems Assessment, one of the most comprehensive studies ever produced into the state of the natural environment involving the top environmental scientists from around the world, reached this stark conclusion, “Over the past few hundred years, humans have increased the species extinction rate by as much as 1,000 times background rates typical over the planet’s history. Extinction is a natural part of Earth’s history. Most estimates of the total number of species today lie between 5 million and 30 million, although the overall total could be higher than 30 million if poorly known groups such as deep-sea organisms, fungi, and microorganisms including parasites have more species than currently estimated. Species present today only represent 2 – 4% of all species that have ever lived. The fossil record appears to be punctuated by five major mass extinctions, the most recent of which occurred 65 million years ago. The average rate of extinction found for marine and mammal fossil species (excluding extinctions that occurred in the five major mass extinctions) is approximately 0.1 – 1 extinctions per million species per year. There are approximately 100 documented extinctions of birds, mammal, and amphibians over the past 100 years, a rate 50 – 500 times higher than background rates. Including possibly extinct species, the rate is more than 1,000 times higher than background rates.” [1]
Why does this matter to us as Christians?
A major report from Arise, the 4 Shifts Report, explores what the Bible has to say about God’s creation, and our relationship with it (4 Shifts Report, pg 64 – 69). We see in this, that God’s creation is good, and it belongs to him. As the Psalms tells us, “How many are your works, LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures … All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.” (Psalm 104: 24 – 28) So if we truly love God and his creation, we should “take care of it” (Gen 2: 15), as he instructed us.
Furthermore, human society itself is deeply dependent upon a flourishing, healthy and diverse natural environment. The fresh water and food we need to survive, the clean air we need to breathe, the clothing we wear, the natural resources we use to build our homes, and on which our economy is based – all are dependent on a healthy and diverse biosphere. Every scientific study on the topic shows how natural ecosystems are complex and deeply interdependent. The shocking decline in biodiversity that we are causing, puts human society and survival itself at risk. And as ever, the poorest most vulnerable people around the world who do the least to cause such environmental decline, suffer the worst from the impacts of it (4 Shifts Report, pg 39 – 48).
So what can be done?
To halt and reverse the shocking decline in biodiversity we must address its primary causes. That means protecting wild habitats and halting all further expansion into wild lands; banning all polluting activity; and transforming our agricultural and economic activity so it becomes environmentally sustainable, not taking out more than it puts back in. It also means halting and reversing global climate change. Arise has brought all these changes together into two major policy shifts to a Circular Economy and Clean Energy needed to secure a safe environmental ceiling for the world, as part of our 4 Shifts Campaign. The campaign calls for a rewiring of our global economy to be green and fair, so it still creates the jobs and wealth that lift people out of poverty, but does so without relying on fossil fuels and overconsumption which is wrecking our planet.
Circular Economy
Our current linear economic model uses polluting methods to extract, consume, and then discard natural resources faster than the planet can replenish them. We must shift to what experts call a circular economy. Just as nothing is wasted in nature but gets broken down and reused in the biosphere, a circular economy would eliminate all pollution, overconsumption and waste and push resources back around the economy in a circular fashion, moving us back into balance with creation as God intended. Specifically, it would ensure that no damaging polluting activity is used in production; that all natural resources are produced in sustainable ways, not taking out more than is put back in; and that waste of all kinds is not discarded, but circulated around the economy as inputs to business.
To trigger this shift the governments of the world should negotiate a new global circular economy law. This new global treaty should revise, strengthen and incorporate the existing global agreements on the environment into a single global agreement on the circular economy. Specifically this law should ban all polluting activity, further human expansion into wild lands, the production of natural resources that takes out more than it puts back in, and all waste. It should also prevent invasive species, and invest in conservation, re-wilding and reforestation programmes. This law should be implemented in every nation (4 Shifts Report, pg 112 – 117).
Climate Change
On climate change, governments need to significantly strengthen the famous Paris Agreement, by bringing forward the target date to move to 100% clean energy and ban the use of fossil fuels to 2030 (with tough intermediate targets), in order to ensure the world stays below 1.5 degrees of warming, whilst still maintaining energy access for all. This is not as ambitious as it sounds. The proportion of total energy provision coming from 100% clean energy worldwide is already growing at a staggering rate. Many cities, companies and organisations have already made a 2030 commitment, the US is committed to a 50% cut on greenhouse gas emissions by 2030,[2] the European Union to a 55% cut by 2030,[3] and the UK a 78% cut by 2035.[4] Many other nations are also actively considering more ambitious targets. Having agreed a significantly strengthened Paris Agreement, governments then need to put it into effect in every nation by bringing in national climate change laws and action plans with tight targets and timeframes to meet a 100% clean energy target and ban the use of fossil fuels by 2030. This needs to be implemented in every sector (energy, transport, buildings, industry etc.). Ultimately most of the economic activity will be driven by the private sector. However, this won’t just happen without a clear, proactive national government plan with targets and policies that unleash the finances, ingenuity and dynamism of the private sector to drive this transition to 100% clean energy (4 Shifts Report, pg 102 – 112).
Conclusion
Global biodiversity is in shocking decline. But, that can be halted and reversed, for the good of God’s creation and for us all. Urgent and radical action is possible on the two key shifts that will drive that change: a circular economy and clean energy. Christians should be at the forefront of pressuring governments to make those crucial shifts. Get involved with Arise 4 Shifts Campaign if you want to be part of that movement. It would be a great way to celebrate the International Day for Biological Diversity.
Find out more
Find out more about why the world needs 4 Shifts to transition to a fair and green global economy in Arise’s 4 Shifts Report.
And for the bigger picture of how God is at work in the world, and the role we all have to play in that work, check out the Arise Manifesto. This is Arise’s big picture, researched, Biblical, holistic and practical vision for a better world. It looks at what the Bible says, and what we can learn from the best data and the world’s leading experts on the five major areas of evangelism, discipleship, social justice, development and the environment. It then draws these lessons together into a practical road map for the changes we need to see in our world, which the Arise movement campaigns to achieve.
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[1] Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Overall Synthesis Report of the Millennium Ecosystems Assessment, Millennium Ecosystems Assessment, (2005) , www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.356.aspx.pdf, p. 36
[2] Biden pledges to slash greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, CNBC, (Apr 2021), www.cnbc.com/2021/04/22/biden-pledges-to-slash-greenhouse-gas-emissions-in-half-by-2030.html
[3] EU agrees to slash carbon emissions by 2030, The New York Times, (Dec 2020), www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/world/europe/eu-climate-emissions.html
[4] UK enshrines new target in law to slash emission by 78% by 2035, Gov.uk, (Apr 2021), www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-enshrines-new-target-in-law-to-slash-emissions-by-78-by-2035#:~:text=The%20UK%20government%20will%20set,today%20(Tuesday%2020%20April)