Climate change and_biodiversity

“The loss of biodiversity is a silent killer.
It’s different from climate change, where
people feel the impact in everyday life.
With biodiversity, it is not so clear but by
the time you feel what is happening, it
may be too late.”
Pașca Palmer is executive secretary of the UN Convention on
Biological Diversity
www.theguardian.com (2018)
Implications for
Biodiversity of
Climate Change

What Is Climate
Change?
Climate change is a change in the
usual weather found in a place.This
could be a change in how much rain
a place usually gets in a year. Or it
could be a change in a place's usual
temperature for a month or season.
Climate change is also a change in
Earth's climate.This could be a
change in Earth's usual temperature.
Or it could be a change in where rain
and snow usually fall on Earth.

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O R G A N I C S C O M P A N Y
» ‘Greenhouse gases’ (e.g. water vapour,
methane and carbon dioxide) absorb
some infrared radiation preventing heat
escaping/radiating into space, so the
atmosphere warms up.
» •The main causes of global warming are
deforestation and increased use of fossil
fuels
» • Atmospheric CO2 and global
temperatures have shown corresponding
increases over the last 150 years
» •This leads to : melting polar ice, thermal
expansion of sea water, crop failure
The science behind
climate change
By Sophia Christodoulou

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What is biodiversity
and why does it matter?
Biodiversity describes the rich diversity of
life on Earth, from individual species to
entire ecosystems. The term was coined in
1985 – a contraction of “biological diversity”
– but the huge global biodiversity losses
now becoming apparent represent a crisis
equalling and quite possibly surpassing
climate change. Deforestation, poaching,
industrial farming and pollution are some of
the ways in which the planet's natural
ecosystem is being disrupted – with
devastating results. Human activity has
ravaged biodiversity.

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» Genetic biodiversity:Genetic
variability or biodiversity within a
species or within a population.
» Species diversity:The variety in the
number and abundance of the
species within a region
» Ecosystem diversity:The
assemblage and interaction of
species living together and the
physical environment of a given
area
Therearethreetypesof biodiversity

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BEST FOR You
Facts
Ecosystem services do the following:
 Moderate weather extremes and their
impacts (ex. drought, floods, etc.)
 Mitigate climate change
 Absorb and store CO2
 Protect water channels and shores from
erosion
 Regulate disease-carrying organisms
 Provide ingredients for pharmaceutical,
biochemical and industrial products
 Are a source of energy and biomass fuels
 Decompose waste and detoxify pollution
 Generate, maintain and renew soil fertility
(nutrient cycling)
 Pollinate crops and plants, and disperse
seeds
 Control agricultural pests and diseases
 Produce food (such as crops, wild foods and
spices, seafood)
 Produce wood and fibre
 Produce oxygen, purify air and water

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Facts
 Give cultural, intellectual, artistic and spiritual
inspiration
 Allow recreation (ex. ecotourism)
 Hold answers to scientific questions
 Hold the cures to diseases
 Conserving forests avoids greenhouse gas
emissions worth US$ 3.7 trillion
 Ecotourism is the fastest-growing area of the
tourism industry with an estimated increase of
global spending of 20% annually (TIES 2006)
 Bee keeping generates US$ 213 million annually
in Switzerland by ensuring agricultural
production through pollination— some five
times the value of honey production alone
 Under a ‘business as usual’ scenario, where
ecosystem services keep declining, the cost to
compensate for the lost services (the cost of
inaction) over a 50 year period will amount to
US$ 2.0 to 4.5 trillion per year

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Facts
 Referred to as the ‘water towers of the world’, mountain systems cover about 27% of the world’s land surface and
directly support 22% of the world’s people and provide the freshwater needs of more than half of humanity.
 Mountains support about one quarter of world’s terrestrial biodiversity and include nearly half of the world’s
biodiversity ‘hotspots’
 Of the 20 plant species that supply 80% of the world’s food, six (maize, potatoes, barley, sorghum, tomatoes, and
apples) originated in mountains
 Forests are particularly vulnerable to climate change because even small changes in temperature and precipitation can
have significant effects on forest growth. It has been shown that an increase of 1 degree Celsius in the temperature can
modify the functioning and composition of forests
 The conservation of mountain biodiversity is a key option for the adaptation to climate change. Adaptation options
include the establishment of additional protected areas, mountain watershed management and the establishment of
migration corridors, both horizontal and vertical.

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» Facts
 Islands are often characterized by a very rich biodiversity,
upon which local people rely economically. Island
ecosystems are also very fragile.An estimated 75% of
animal species and 90% of bird species that have become
extinct since the 17th century are insular. Furthermore,
23% of island species are at present considered
endangered, whereas the corresponding figure for the
rest of the world is 11%.
 The conservation of marine and coastal biodiversity
represents an important option for the adaptation to
climate change. Many coastal ecosystem components,
such as coral reefs, seagrasses, salt marshes and
mangroves provide significant coastal protection and thus
contribute substantially to the resilience of coastal
ecosystems and populations

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Facts
 Rapid population growth has led to a change
from traditional to intensive agricultural
systems. About 7,000 plant species have been
cultivated for food since agriculture began
about 12,000 years ago.Today, however, only
about 15 plant species and eight animal
species supply 90% of our food.
 The conservation of agricultural biodiversity is
a key option for the adaptation to climate
change. For example, the conservation of wild
relatives of food crops is considered an
insurance policy for the future, as these wild
relatives can be used to breed new varieties
that can cope with the changing conditions.
35% of the world’s crop production is
dependent on pollinators such as bees, birds
and bats.

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Facts
Under a ‘business as usual’ scenario, where
overexploitation continues and ecosystem
services keep declining, the cost to
compensate for lost ecosystem services (the
cost of inaction) over a 50 year period will
amount to US$ 2.0 to 4.5 trillion per year
The poorest populations are the most
dependent on ecosystem services for food,
clothes, medicine, fuel, shelter, income and
other basic needs. It is essential to protect
poor people’s rights to access ecosystem
services, renewable natural resources, land
and sea. The free and accessible nature of
ecosystem services makes them essential
and irreplaceable.

BEST FOR You
Facts
According to the United Nations Principles
for Responsible Investment, the top 3,000
listed companies globally are estimated to
be responsible for environmental
externalities worth at least US$ 2.2 trillion
per year
The Union for Ethical BioTrade’s
Biodiversity Barometer Survey (2011)
showed that a high proportion of consumers
(84%) are ready to stop buying products
from companies that disregard ethical
biodiversity sourcing practices
A McKinsey survey shows 59% of business
executives see biodiversity as more of an
opportunity than a risk for their companies

Climate change and_biodiversity

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