6-May-2019: Key findings from IPBES report on Biodiversity
A new global report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) finds that 1 million species are at risk of extinction — more than ever before in human history.
The Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, prepared by 145 leading experts from 50 countries, examines the causes of biodiversity and ecosystem change, the implications for people, as well as policy options and likely future pathways over the next three decades. It provides an integrated overview of where the world stands in relation to key international goals, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on climate change. In addition to including more than 15,000 scientific and government sources, the report also cites indigenous and local knowledge.
Key findings
- Human activities and natural trends have converged to severely alter our natural world. Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history. The report shows that 75% of the land-based environment and about 66% of the marine environment have been significantly altered by human actions. On average, these trends have been less severe — or avoided — in areas held or managed by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.
- Nearly 1 million species are at risk of extinction from human activities. The loss of clean air, drinkable water, pollinating insects, forests, and species pose as big a threat to species survival as climate change. Many experts already believe a so-called “mass extinction event” – only the sixth in the last half-billion years – is already under way.
- The loss of biodiversity increases the challenge of limiting climate change. If we fail to protect the natural world, we lose our biggest asset in the fight against climate change because healthy ecosystems naturally absorb carbon from the atmosphere. Many of the “least regrets” solutions to the climate crisis (such as protecting and restoring natural carbon sinks and sustainable land management) also improve biodiversity, water, soil, as well as people’s health.
- Climate change is intensifying biodiversity loss. In areas where ecosystems are already in a vulnerable state, the impacts of climate change will be even more significant. It’s more difficult for degraded ecosystems to adapt to climate change, making impacts, such as flooding and wildfires, more damaging.
Policymakers now agree with the world’s scientists: 130 governments approved of the IPBES report, agreeing that we are way off track to save biodiversity. Both understand that we are exploiting nature faster than it can renew itself — and it threatens our very own survival.
The next two years are a critical window of opportunity for limiting climate change and the sixth mass extinction. Beginning with the UN Secretary General’s Summit in September and running through the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2020, governments will present commitments that can exponentially escalate the adoption of solutions, and change the way we feed ourselves, protect nature, and avoid a global ecological chaos fueled by climate change and biodiversity loss.
That’s why the next two years are a crucial time to remind our leaders that biodiversity loss and climate change are connected challenges, and so are their solutions.
2-May-2019: Government and IIT-Delhi to set up a Centre of Excellence for Waste to Wealth Technologies
To commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India and Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) have come together to bring the best of science and technology to implement waste management in India.
Principal Scientific Advisor to the Govt of India, Prof K. Vijay Raghavan and Director, IIT Delhi, Prof V. Ramgopal Rao signed a Memorandum of Understanding in New Delhi for setting up a Centre of Excellence for Waste to Wealth Technologies for implementation of sustainable, scientific and technological solutions for waste management, through validation and deployment of available technologies for transformation of waste to wealth.
The waste to wealth mission project has been approved under the recently constituted Prime Minister’s Science Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC), which is an overarching body for assessment, creation and implementation of major scientific, technology and innovation interventions for India. The partnership will provide an effective platform for stakeholders to bring together integrated approaches for effective recycle, reuse and resource recovery of waste.
“The Idea is to consolidate all possible Waste to Wealth Technologies, learn from the best practices followed worldwide, and implement them on the ground for Indian cities.”, said Prof Rao.
IIT Delhi is already closely involved with the waste management aspects of Delhi and many faculty members are closely involved with the Delhi administration in addressing the waste management issues.
The immediate objective is to implement technologies that are available with various national and international academia, industries, research laboratories and other agencies by way of setting up pilot projects on-site effectively and successfully, and demonstrating the proof of concept of the technology under Indian condition. This will be carried out by creating a strong collaborating network between IIT Delhi, and other national and international stakeholders through the aegis of the office of the PSA. The long-term goal is to create circular economic models for waste management, by leveraging big data analytics and frontier technologies to streamline waste in India. The overall outcomes would involve treating waste and generating different forms of energy, thereby making India a waste free nation, with zero greenhouse gas emission and no health hazard. Under the initiative, a waste to wealth programme management centre will also be set up at IIT Delhi.
The office of the PSA acts as a ‘think-tank’ and ‘action-tank’ for science, technology and innovation activities. The office plays a catalytic and synergistic role to strongly connect government ministry, academia and industry, to evolve relevant policies, make recommendations for the relevant scientific departments and ministries, and implement scientific interventions in various sectors of national priority.
The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) is one of the premiere educational and research institutions of India, offering a variety of world class bachelors, post graduate and research programs across multiple streams with an expert pool of 550 professors engaged in research important for the society and industry.
22-Feb-2019: Report flags growing threat of monoculture in crop production
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has flagged the growing practice of monoculture —cultivation of a single crop at a given area — in food production around the world.
Of more than 6,000 plant species cultivated for food production, fewer than 200 contribute significantly to food production globally, regionally or nationally, according to FAO’s latest report The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture 2019.
Only 9 plant species account for almost two-thirds of total crop production.
In many parts of the world, biodiverse agricultural landscapes have been, or are being, replaced by large areas of monoculture, farmed using large quantities of external inputs such as pesticides, mineral fertilizers and fossil fuels.
It lists drivers of change affecting biodiversity for food and agriculture, including:
- Population growth and urbanization
- Over-exploitation and over-harvesting
- Changes in land and water use and management
- Pests, diseases and invasive alien species
- Climate change
- Pollution and external inputs
- Natural disasters
- Markets, trade and the private sector
The first factor contributor majorly towards monoculture — as people move to cities they tend to depend more on purchased foods. They often also tend to lose ties with rural areas and rural foods, and increasingly opt for processed foods rather than fresh foods. Markets may also impose requirements. This pressures producers to “continuously grow or keep only a limited range of species, breeds and varieties of crops, livestock, trees, fish, etc.” Individual holdings as well as wider productive landscapes become more homogeneous in terms of their genetics and physical structure.
Such changes often affect the resilience of production systems and their role in biodiversity. Private food standards adopted by supermarkets and consumers have pushed farmers towards particular varieties and management procedures.
International markets may be particularly restrictive and impose specific requirements for market entry… effectively debar the entry into the market of minor crops from developing countries.
The emphasis on meat-based diets and the use of a narrow range of major cereals (maize, wheat and rice) is growing. The report predicts that the demand for standardised foods can reduce the diversity of crops and animals.
Rural-to-urban migration is more common among working-age men. As the proportion of the elderly and women rise in villages, cropping systems are abandoned for pastures and livestock, requiring less labour. This is reported to have led to a decline of crop genetic diversity.
If a single variety is widely grown, a pest or disease to which it lacks resistance can lead to a dramatic fall in production. If livelihoods are heavily dependent on the species in question, the effects can be disastrous. Examples:
- The 1840 potato blight famine in Ireland
- The 20th century losses in cereals in the United States
- Losses of taro production in Samoa in the 1990s
Diversifying crop cultivation, on the other hand, reduces risk of economic shocks: “Integrating intercrops, hedgerows or cover crops, particularly legumes, into a system can reduce drought stress by helping to conserve water in the soil profile and help to replenish depleted soil fertility.”
Also, “crop diversification, including rotation and intercropping and the use of diverse forage plants in pastureland, can reduce pest damage and weed invasions.”
The growing exploitation of land and water sources was eating in to integrated aquaculture, which in turn was pushing farmers towards monoculture.
The need of the hour
- New supply systems
- Improved public-private partnerships.
- Effective diversification strategies can be implemented through “support from national agricultural extension systems, clear identification of benefits for producers and a willingness to build producer capacity and knowledge,”.
It stressed on monitoring the effectiveness of diversification projects and programmes from various perspectives, “including overall effectiveness in terms of productivity, livelihoods, sustainability and effects on the status of Biodiversity for food agriculture”.
Background: The Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is an intergovernmental body that addresses issues specifically related to the management of biodiversity of relevance to food and agriculture. It was established in 1983 as the Commission on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. It is headquartered in Rome, Italy. In 1995, the mandate of the Commission was extended to cover all components of biodiversity for food and agriculture and its name was changed to its current version. Its membership comprises 178 countries and the European Union.