The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity, inviting the world to take action to safeguard the variety of life on earth.
What is the current pace of biodiversity loss? Has progress been made? How is biodiversity linked to agriculture and climate change? These and many more questions are answered by GreenFacts’ clear and faithful summaries of International Scientific Assessments (CBD Global Outlook, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, IPCC, IAASTD etc.).
This is a crucial year as the 2010 Biodiversity Target expires and world governments will take stock of the progress made for biodiversity conservation. Later this year a new target will be adopted to continue fostering action for biodiversity.
Events around the world – including the UNESCO Biodiversity Science-Policy Conference in Paris (25-29 January 2010) – will contribute by raising awareness and catalyzing action.
Several related digests are available through our Biodiversity Theme page.
Today’s International Day for Biological Diversity marks the 16th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). According to this Convention, Biodiversity – the number, variety, and variability of living organisms – is not just about plants, animals, microorganisms and their ecosystems, but also about humans and their needs such as food security, clean air and water, as well as a healthy environment. Why is it important to reduce biodiversity loss?
In 2002, the Convention on Biological Diversity set the target of reducing the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 and established a number of biodiversity indicators to assess progress towards meeting that target. Can this target be reached? What actions are needed? More…
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Biodiversity contributes to many aspects of human well-being, for instance by providing raw materials and contributing to health. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment shows that human actions often lead to irreversible losses in terms of diversity of life on Earth. What factors are responsible for this rapid loss? More…
Summary available in [de] [en] [es] [fr] [nl]
As a contribution to the International Day for Biological Diversity, an online summary of the second edition of Global Biodiversity Outlook has been launched today. Global Biodiversity Outlook 2, published last year by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, takes stock of the Earth’s biodiversity, analyses the factors leading to biodiversity loss, and advocates key interventions that would reduce pressure on the natural environment. The reader-friendly summary is available on www.greenfacts.org/en/global-biodiversity-outlook/
The scientific consensus on biodiversity and ecosystem loss is now available in a concise and accessible way. The online summary at www.greenfacts.org/biodiversity/ is a reader-friendly version of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) Synthesis Report on Biodiversity. In the run-up to the European Commission’s Green Week 2006 on Biodiversity, GreenFacts, the IUCN Regional Office for Europe, and Countdown 2010 have joined forces to explain biodiversity, its benefits for human well-being and the dramatic loss of biodiversity the world is currently witnessing.
This year’s International Day for Biological Diversity marks the 14th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity. According to this Convention, Biodiversity – the number, variety, and variability of living organisms – is not just about plants, animals, microorganisms and their ecosystems, but also about humans and their needs such as food security, clean air and water, as well as a healthy environment.
