Citation
(2010), "UNEP Report – “Global Biodiversity Outlook", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 21 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/meq.2010.08321faf.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
UNEP Report – “Global Biodiversity Outlook
Article Type: Feature From: Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Volume 21, Issue 6
The third edition of “Global Biodiversity Outlook” (GBO-3), produced by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), confirms that the world has failed to meet its target to achieve a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. The report is based on scientific assessments, national reports submitted by governments and a study on future scenarios for biodiversity, and is subject to an extensive independent scientific review process.
The report warns that massive further loss of biodiversity is becoming increasingly likely, and with it, a severe reduction of many essential services to human societies as several “tipping points” are approached, in which ecosystems shift to alternative, less productive states from which it may be difficult or impossible to recover. The Outlook argues, however, that such outcomes are avoidable if effective and coordinated action is taken to reduce the multiple pressures being imposed on biodiversity. The document notes that the linked challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change must be addressed by policy-makers with equal priority and in close co-ordination, if the most severe impacts of each are to be avoided. Conserving biodiversity and the ecosystems it underpins can help to store more carbon, reducing further build-up of greenhouse gases; and people will be better able to adapt to unavoidable climate change if ecosystems are made more resilient with the easing of other pressures. The Outlook outlines a possible new strategy for reducing biodiversity loss, learning the lessons from the failure to meet the 2010 target. It is available at: www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=624&ArticleID=6558&l=en