Page - 12 - in options, Volume summer 2021

Humanity’s advance has meant retreat for millions of other species. Habitats are ploughed and paved; pollution chokes ecosystems; overfishing scours the seas; climate change brings drought and scrambled seasons. Even from a cynical, human-centric point of view, this is a looming disaster. Plants and animals feed us, stabilize the climate, filter air and water, and give us fuel and medicines. Decades of conservation efforts have had limited success. Almost every country is signed up to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), a treaty that set out 20 biodiversity targets in 2010. By the 2020 deadline, however, only six of these targets had been partially achieved. According to the 2019 IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: “Biodiversity … is declining faster than at any time in human history.” At a crucial moment for beleaguered nature, IIASA research is showing that we can reverse biodiversity loss +t Vill need an effort tJat is Irand in scale and focused where rewards are greatest. By Stephen Battersby DEFENSE OF THE 12 Options Summer 2021 www.iiasa.ac.at