This morning 6 May 2019 at 7:00AM New York Time, Noon London time, and 1:00PM Paris Time The United Nations Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released their report - Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’ Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’
Here is a link via the Washington Post to the press release -
https://games-cdn.washingtonpost.com/notes/prod/default/documents/1c572aca-fe3d-4b5f-94d9-1885bfee7e7a/note/7561fdf9-27ed-4fa0-845c-dbef31bb3b0c.pdf#page=1
Here is some of the lead information about the report from the press release:
Current global response insufficient; ‘Transformative changes’ needed to restore and protect nature; Opposition from vested interests can be overcome for public good
Most comprehensive assessment of its kind; 1,000,000 species threatened with extinction
“The overwhelming evidence of the IPBES Global Assessment, from a wide range of different fields of knowledge, presents an ominous picture,” said IPBES Chair, Sir Robert Watson. “The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.”
“The Report also tells us that it is not too late to make a difference, but only if we start now at every level from local to global,” he said. “Through ‘transformative change’, nature can still be conserved, restored and used sustainably – this is also key to meeting most other global goals. By transformative change, we mean a fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values.”
“The member States of IPBES Plenary have now acknowledged that, by its very nature, transformative change can expect opposition from those with interests vested in the status quo, but also that such opposition can be overcome for the broader public good,” Watson said.
The IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services is the most comprehensive ever completed. It is the first intergovernmental Report of its kind and builds on the landmark Millennium Ecosystem Assessment of 2005, introducing innovative ways of evaluating evidence.
Compiled by 145 expert authors from 50 countries over the past three years, with inputs from another 310 contributing authors, the Report assesses changes over the past five decades, providing a comprehensive picture of the relationship between economic development pathways and their impacts on nature. It also offers a range of possible scenarios for the coming decades.
Based on the systematic review of about 15,000 scientific and government sources, the Report also draws (for the first time ever at this scale) on indigenous and local knowledge, particularly addressing issues relevant to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.