UN conference on loss of animal and plant species opens in Japan

PriuStorm · Oct 19, 2010

Didn't see any U.S. MSM media reporting on this.

timesofmalta.com - UN conference on loss of animal and plant species opens in Japan

A UN conference on global biodiversity loss kicked off in Japan yesterday, aiming to tackle how to curb the worldâ€™s rapid loss of animal and plant species and the habitats they live in.

The 193 members of the UNâ€™s Convention on Biological Diversity are gathering in the central city of Nagoya, with experts warning the planet is now in the grip of its sixth mass extinction phase â€“ the first that is man-made.

The 12-day conference aims to throw a spotlight on a global environmental issue that has drawn less attention in recent years than the related problem of man-made climate change, blamed on a surge of greenhouse gas emissions.

Scientists say worldwide human population pressures are wiping out ecosystems such as tropical forests and coral reefs, killing off animal and plant species that form the web of life which humanity depends on.

â€œOur prosperity and indeed our survival depend on healthy ecosystems,â€ said Jim Leape, the chief of the Worldwide Fund for Nature. â€œThe earthâ€™s forests, oceans and rivers are the very foundation of our society and economy.

â€œEven in purely economic terms, it is far, far more cost effective to conserve or restore healthy ecosystems than to artificially provide natural services that we currently take for granted.â€

Delegates will have to acknowledge that they have failed so far to meet past pledges to stem biodiversity loss, first made when the UN biodiversity convention was adopted in 1992.

At the start of the decade, UN members pledged under the Millennium Development Goals to achieve â€œa significant reductionâ€ in the rate of wildlife loss by 2010, which marks the International Year of Biodiversity.

Instead, habitat destruction has continued unabated.

Nearly a quarter of mammals, one-third of amphibians, more than one in eight birds, and more than a fifth of plant species now face the threat of extinction, says the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

In May, a UN report warned of looming â€œtipping pointsâ€ that could irreversibly damage ecosystems such as the Amazon rainforest, through logging and land clearance, and coral reefs through global warming and overfishing.

The earthâ€™s 6.8 billion humans were effectively living 50 per cent beyond the planetâ€™s biocapacity in 2007, says a new assessment by WWF, adding that by 2030, humans will effectively need the capacity of two Earths.

â€œWe will discuss sincerely the future of the Earth to find a solution,â€ Japanâ€™s Environment Minister Ryu Matsumoto, who chairs the Nagoya conference, said in an opening speech.

â€œIt is the worldâ€™s common desire to hand over the beautiful earth that is supported by a rich biodiversity to the next generation.â€
Delegates plan to set a new target for 2020 for curbing species loss, and will discuss boosting medium-term financial help for poor countries to help them protect their wildlife and habitats.

They also aim to forge an accord on the â€œequitable sharingâ€ of the benefits from natural resources â€“ for example a medicine derived from a jungle plant â€“ under a so-called Access and Benefits Sharing Protocol

Under the proposal, companies would agree to pay a â€œgene feeâ€ if scientists find plants or animals, long used by indigenous groups, that have a commercial use such as in the pharmaceutical industry.

Brazilian Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira warned this month that â€œfor us, it is not acceptable to go to Nagoya and not have an agreement for (the) ABS Protocol... We need a deal.â€
Click to expand...

Personally, I think their goals in the last few paragraphs are pretty weak. Eighteen years of failure... pretty depressing.

hill · Oct 19, 2010

Oh the irony -
Loss of Animal species, eh? Do you think there'll be any of THIS particular species left . . . . you know . . . . after all their "research" is done?

Maybe they could do "research" on their own research fleet operators ... THAT'd certainly increase the whale species chance of survival. There I go, thinking again.
.

PriuStorm · Oct 19, 2010

No kidding. Seriously, at this rate, Planet Earth ---> the last Easter Island.

PriuStorm · Oct 21, 2010

This is just a blog posting and I tried to find something more current on this 'news'. I think it may actually have been floated around as an idea by them before. In any event, if the Chinese are serious about it, I hope they set the example and that other industrialized nations, including the U.S., get on board, too.

China Reveals Aggressive Plan To Protect Biodiversity

From another link on their site:

Valuing Green in Greenbacks: Should We Put a Price on Services Rendered by Nature?

According to the United Nations Environment Programme report "Mainstreaming the Economics of Nature," failing to value the Earth's natural services, such as bees pollinating the world's food supply or forests filtering clean drinking water, is a problem. Their solution: put a dollar figure on it.

The report authors, led by Pavan Sukhdev of Deutsche Bank, calculated that the world is losing $2 to $4.5 trillion worth of natural capital each year due to pollution, deforestation, farming, industry and climate change. That's a big number.

Importantly for policies affecting the developing world, the authors argue that the poor are disproportionately affected by loss of natural services. "Ecosystems such as fresh water, coral reefs and forests account for between 47 percent and 89 percent of what the U.N. calls "the GDP of the poor," meaning the source of livelihoods for the rural and forest-dwelling poor, according to the study," writes Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post.
Click to expand...

UN conference on loss of animal and plant species opens in Japan

PriuStorm Senior Member

hill High Fiber Member

PriuStorm Senior Member

PriuStorm Senior Member

Loss of mountain ice and earth rotation?

Ground truth analysis of Western Antarctic ice loss

Copenhagen - U.N. Climate Conference. Dec.7-18,2009

Sierra Nevada Deep Ecology Institute: Environmental Conference

Green Party Statement on U.N. Climate Conference

About PriusChat

Quick Navigation

Like us on Facebook

Buy us a beer!

Useful Searches

UN conference on loss of animal and plant species opens in Japan

PriuStorm Senior Member

hill High Fiber Member

PriuStorm Senior Member

PriuStorm Senior Member

Loss of mountain ice and earth rotation?

Ground truth analysis of Western Antarctic ice loss

Copenhagen - U.N. Climate Conference. Dec.7-18,2009

Sierra Nevada Deep Ecology Institute: Environmental Conference

Green Party Statement on U.N. Climate Conference