2. Message from Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary
to the Convention on Biological Diversity on the occasion of the
International Day for Biological Diversity, May 22nd 2007
Mr. Ahmed Djoghlaf
Photo: SCBD |
Climate change is real. The UN’s lead scientific authority
on climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
in its most recent report, prepared by 2500 experts from 130 countries,
has indicated that the concentration of CO2 in the earth’s
atmosphere is of a level not seen for some 650,000 years. The cause:
human activities.
Biodiversity loss is real. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment,
the most authoritative statement on the health of the Earth’s
ecosystems, prepared by 1395 scientists from 95 countries, has demonstrated
the negative impact of human activities on the natural functioning
of the planet. As a result, the ability of the planet to provide
the goods and services that we, and future generations, need for
our well being is seriously-perhaps irreversibly jeopardized. We
are experiencing the greatest wave of extinctions since the disappearance
of the dinosaurs, with extinction rates rising by a factor of 1,000
above background rates. Every day, between 50 and 150 species are
lost. Every year, between 18,000 and 55,000 species become extinct.
The cause: human activities
Climate change is one of the major driving forces behind the unprecedented
loss of biodiversity. Global Biodiversity Outlook 2, recently issued
by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, demonstrates
that before the end of the century, species and ecosystems will
struggle to keep pace with changes in temperature and rainfall and
extinction rates will increase. This is already evident in the Arctic,
perhaps the “barometer” of the impact of climate change
on ecosystems around the world, where reduced sea-ice threatens
to lead to the disappearance of the iconic polar bear. The consequences
of climate change will be distributed unequally around the globe.
Africa, which contributes the least to climate change, will be the
first to suffer. Between 25 and 40 per cent of species’ habitats
could be lost by 2085.
The relationship between biodiversity and climate change runs both
ways. Climate change is an important driver of the loss of biodiversity.
At the same time, the loss of biodiversity and the deterioration
of natural habitats also contribute to climate change. It is said
that every human being on Earth owes one breath to forests and a
second to the oceans. The loss of coral reefs and the destruction
of intact forests and mangroves will exacerbate climate change,
biodiversity loss and their impacts.
Maintaining biodiversity will make ecosystems resilient in the
face of a changing climate. Forests and peatlands represent an important
storage place for carbon dioxide. Intact mangroves are an important
protection against sea level rise. A variety of crops and livestock
are important resources against changes to the rhythm of the seasons.
Climate change is indeed an energy and a security issue but is
also an environmental issue. Biodiversity loss is an environmental
issue but it is also an economic, financial, cultural, ethical as
well as a security issue. Coinciding with the Polar Year, this year’s
celebration by the international community of the International
Day for Biological Diversity, on 22 May, offers a unique opportunity
to acknowledge that climate change and biodiversity are two faces
of the same coin of life. Addressing both requires the mutually
supportive implementation of the Rio Conventions for the benefit
of life on Earth. We in the Secretariat of the Convention on life
on earth shall spare no effort to achieve such a strategic objective.
We wish all the countries of the world and their people a successful
and memorable celebration.
United Nations Environment Programme
413 Saint-Jacques Street, Suite 800
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Y 1N9
Tel.: +1.514.288.2220
Fax : +1.514.288.6588
www.biodiv.org
secretariat@biodiv.org
![](http://www.bgci.org/files/Canada/images/logos_nl43.jpg)
![](http://www.bgci.org/files/Canada/images/home.jpg)
![](http://www.bgci.org/files/Canada/images/partnership_for_plants.jpg)
This message has been sent to you by A Partnership for Plants in
Canada (a project supported by BGCI-Canada and the Montréal
Botanical Garden) because you have expressed interest in receiving
information from us. If this message has been received in
error please notify yannvergriete@fastmail.fm. Click here
to avoid receiving future e-mails from us.
Yann Vergriete
Project coordinator
Institut de recherche en biologie végétale
The Montréal Botanical Garden
4101, rue Sherbrooke Est
Montréal (Québec) H1X 2B2
CANADA
www.bgci.org/canada
|
|