Biodiversity in peril: What does the extinction crisis mean for us?

Stopping the loss of biodiversity on Earth is one of mankind’s great tasks for the future. More and more animal and plant species are becoming irretrievably extinct, and the populations of many other species are declining. Even if decisive action is taken, experts estimate that the trend in species extinction will not be reversed until around 2050. The dwindling of “natural capital” has serious consequences, most of which we can only begin to predict. What is clear, however, is that declining biodiversity is threatening the functioning of entire ecosystems, with negative impacts on human health, water and food supplies, and economic performance around the globe.

“There is now growing recognition of the idea that biodiversity is important to the well-being of all humankind,” says Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Volker Mosbrugger, spokesman for the BMBF’s Research Initiative for Biodiversity Conservation (FEdA) which is hosting the conference. “So far, however, the erosion of our natural capital is progressing almost unchecked. We must act now to prevent worse!” But why have so many of the previous efforts to improve conservation failed, which approaches have been successful, and what can be learned from that for the future? These and other questions will be addressed at the digital conference Biodiversity and Human Well-Being – Europe’s Role in Shaping Our Future. Starting Wednesday, November 9, this will be the first European conference organized by FEdA.

Representatives from science and civil society, politics, administration and business will discuss at the three-day online event what is precisely needed to halt the loss of biodiversity. The role of the participants themselves will also be discussed: What is the significance of transdisciplinary scientific approaches such as co-design and co-production? How can the economic system be transformed to become “nature-positive”? How can synergies be created at the European and international level? Important contributions in this regard will be coming from Virginijus Sinkevičius, EU Commissioner for Environment and Oceans, and Humberto Delgado Rosa, Director for Biodiversity, DG Environment, European Commission.

Of great importance for the global development of biodiversity will be the outcome of the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15), whose final meeting begins on Dec. 7 in Montreal. In recent weeks and months, there have already been a number of calls and statements in the run-up to COP 15 advocating the adoption of a strong global framework for biodiversity, such as the “Berlin Declaration”. The organizers and participants of the European FEdA conference will reiterate the appeal to policy makers in a statement to the conference that will call for transforming the entire approach to biodiversity research and conservation programs in Europe: “Only if we resolve the conflict of goals between prosperity, social peace and the preservation of nature will it be possible to stop the loss of biodiversity, climate change and environmental pollution and thus secure human well-being”, the statement reads. However, this requires new, creative ways of thinking (“planetary thinking”), systemic research and transformation – and, among other things, a major reorganization of the research and funding landscape in the EU, that supports joint systemic research, development and implementation by researchers and stakeholders and allows experiments with different sets of rules (for example in the agricultural sector).

Registration for the conference is still open and free of charge for stakeholders, interested individuals and members of the press. All information is available online at: www.feda.bio/2022-conference

In the BMBF Research Initiative for the Conservation of Biodiversity (Forschungsinitiative zum Erhalt der Artenvielfalt, FEdA), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research funds scientific projects to analyze biodiversity in Germany and to develop and implement innovative, effective measures to protect and improve biological diversity. In doing so, FEdA supports the targeted exchange between research, politics, economy, agriculture and forestry, nature conservation and civil society in the sense of a “transformative” science. To learn more, visit our website www.feda.bio and follow us on Twitter (@FEdA_Biodiv).