1. Biodiversity and the Future
We Want
24th February 2014
Presented by
Zakri Abdul Hamid
Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia
&
Chair of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
At the
IAU 2014 International Conference
20th March 2014
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Adopting Capabilities Approach

2. “Malaysia has been at the
forefront in articulating the
need for a balance between
the environment and
development. For us, this is
the crux of sustainable
development: to achieve such
goals as relieving poverty by
availing ourselves of our
natural resources without
compromising the ability of
future generations to do
likewise”
Najib Tun Razak, Prime Minister of
Malaysia at the High Level Forum on
Biodiversity and Development, Kuala
Lumpur, November 2013

3. The current and
projected rates of
biodiversity loss
constitute the sixth
major extinction event
in the history of life on
Earth—the first to be
driven specifically by
the impacts of human
activities on
the planet
(Rockstrom et al 2009;
Chapin et al. 2000)
What Kind of Future without
Biodiversity?

4. Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment

5. Biodiversity Crisis
Source: Reuters (2010)
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6. Unprecedented change:
Ecosystems
• More than two thirds of the
area of two biomes and
more than half of the area of
four others had been
converted by 1990
• 5-10% of the area of five
biomes was converted
between 1950 and 1990
• More land was converted to
cropland in the 30 years
after 1950 than in the 150
years between 1700 and
1850
Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment (2005)

7. Biodiversity and SDGs: MDG Goal 7
Although more land and marine
areas are under protection, many
species of birds, mammals and
others are heading for extinction at
a fast pace.
Forests are disappearing at a rapid
pace, despite the establishment of
forest policies and laws supporting
sustainable forest management in
many countries.
MDG 7 Fact Sheet (2013)

8. Biodiversity and SDGS: Inclusive
Wealth Index as overarching goals
“The real wealth of nations: a
better way to size up wealth”
The Economist (front cover mention)
“A substantial step towards
true sustainable
development”
Huffington Post
“IWI is the first serious attempt
to measure the total wealth of
the planet’s richest countries”
Time magazine

9. Biodiversity and SDGs: Linking to
Constituents of Well-being
Source: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005)

10. Human influence has been
detected in warming of the
atmosphere and the
ocean, in changes in the
global water cycle, in
reductions in snow and
ice, in global mean sea
level rise, and in changes in
some climate extremes. It
is extremely likely that
human influence has been
the dominant cause of the
observed warming since
the mid-20th century
IPCC Assessment
Report 2013 10
Science-Policy Platform: IPCC

11. Science-Policy Platform: Crucial
need for IPBES

13. IPBES: Task force on Indigenous
and Local Knowledge
On December 14th
2013, the Antalya
Consensus was achieved at
the Second Meeting of the
Platform Plenary. One of
the key outcomes was the
decision to establish a task
force to oversee the
development of procedures
and approaches for
working with indigenous
and local knowledge
systems.

14. Conclusion: Bridging the Gap
between knowledge and action

15. THANK YOU