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Mary Queenie*
Dozens of world leaders, experts and UN officials attended the first Biodiversity Summit in late September, which stressed the need to protect nature, promote its sustainable use and share the benefits of genetic science fairly and equitably.
Last year, the UN Climate Summit focused on tackling the climate emergency. Just as our societies and economies are closely linked to and dependent on biodiversity, nature loss and climate change can also deliver major benefits for people and the planet if we tackle them together. The Covid-19 pandemic has given us further evidence of the importance of moving to a zero-carbon and environmentally friendly economy.
This health crisis is a stark reminder that ignoring biophysical risks can have devastating consequences for human well-being, businesses and economies, and that we must urgently seize the narrow window of opportunity to avoid such crises in the future.
As we reach irreversible tipping points in both nature and climate, the time to act is now, with more than half of global GDP moderately or largely dependent on nature, and the 2020 World Economic Forum ranking climate change as the greatest threat to the economy and society.
Therefore, protecting natural ecosystems is essential if we are to achieve our biodiversity and climate protection goals. For example, stopping deforestation and replanting is one of the best options for stopping climate change, and it also makes a fundamental contribution to biodiversity. These beneficial scenarios are essential to serve this urgent cause.
Nature-based solutions, which refer to addressing social and environmental challenges through sustainable management and use of nature, are increasingly popular among governments and businesses to address environmental threats and solve social problems by protecting and managing ecosystems in a sustainable way. They are also considered an effective tool to combat climate change, as these measures can contribute 37% to the effort to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions to 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030, thereby keeping the earth’s temperature from rising by 2 degrees Celsius.
Nature-based solutions aim to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and increase carbon stocks in natural ecosystems such as forests and wetlands.
To meet climate goals, global estimates suggest that wind and solar must provide nearly all new electricity generation between now and 2040. Some companies are already tackling this problem; Chinese company Eleon is committed to using only renewable energy in its operations while ensuring protection of the land where its solar panels are built.
The Future of Nature and Business report shows that there are significant economic gains to be made by transitioning to a green economy, with up to $3.5 trillion in business revenues and 87 million new jobs in the energy sector alone by 2030.
* Environmental expert and sustainable development researcher (World Economic Forum)
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