Climate change and biodiversity loss must be tackled together

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Sharjah24 – Reuters: Biodiversity loss has been eclipsed by climate change on the global agenda but the two issues are closely linked, have similar impacts on human welfare and need to be tackled urgently, together, scientists said on Thursday.

The destruction of forests and other ecosystems undermines nature’s ability to regulate greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and protect against extreme weather impacts - accelerating climate change and increasing vulnerability to it, a report by the U.N. agencies on climate change and biodiversity said.

The rapid vanishing of carbon-trapping mangroves and seagrasses, for example, both prevents carbon storage and exposes coastlines to storm surges and erosion.

The report calls for governments to enact policies and nature-based solutions to address both issues.

"For far too long, policymakers tended to see climate change and biodiversity loss as separate issues, so policy responses have been siloed," said report co-author Pamela McElwee, an ecologist at Rutgers University, told a virtual news conference.

"Climate has simply gotten more attention because people are increasingly feeling it in their own lives - whether it's wildfires or hurricane risk. Our report points out that biodiversity loss has that similar effect on human wellbeing."