Biodiversity loss, water and food insecurity, health risks, global pandemics and climate change are interconnected and should no longer be dealt with in silos, according to IPBES.
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) was invited to the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment on Thursday 6 February to present the results of the ‘Nexus’ report on a holistic approach and the ‘Transformative Change’ report on society in the face of biodiversity loss, published in December 2024.
“The five crises are dealt with separately by different institutions, ministries and mechanisms. Emphasising one of these elements can have unexpected negative effects on the others”, explained Anne Larigauderie, Executive Secretary of IPBES. For example, food production has increased over the last ten years, but through “unsustainable agricultural practices”. The improvement in global nutritional status has gone hand in hand with “the loss of biodiversity, an increase in water use, a rise in greenhouse gas emissions and the emergence of new infectious diseases”.
The IPBES ‘Nexus’ report identified 70 cross-cutting solutions. Agroecology, through reducing the use of pesticides and fertilisers, restoring soil health, switching to sustainable diets and building urban infrastructure are all examples.
Adopting them will require “changing the way we act”, according to the IPBES report on the need for transformative change, which identifies three “underlying causes" for the lack of protection of biodiversity: the disconnection between humans and nature, the concentration of power and wealth, and the priority given to material and individual objectives.
Carola Rackete (The Left, German) saw in this “characteristics of capitalism”. The MEPs displayed a kind of powerlessness in the face of growing mistrust of science, the questioning of the regulations of the European Green Deal and the predominance of a short-termism economy.
As agriculture has been identified as a key sector, the future review of the CAP was mentioned by Sigrid Friis (Renew Europe, Danish) and Martin Hausling (Greens/EFA, German) as an opportunity to be seized.
Jutta Paulus (Greens/EFA, German), for her part, deplored the influence of the farming lobby on political decision-makers. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)