Accounting for biodiversity loss
13
Accounting for biodiversity
BIOENERGY CROPS – A CLIMATE POSITIVE BUT BIODIVERSITY NEGATIVE NATURE-BASED SOLUTION Not all nature-based solutions to climate change have a positive impact on biodiversity. 41 For example, bioenergy relies on growing monoculture crops such as corn 42 for use in fuel. Research has found that the use of bioenergy crops contributes significantly to lower species richness and abundance. 43 In addition, the use of fertiliser and pesticides on bioenergy crops negatively affects biodiversity in adjacent ecosystems; 44 this can lead to soil erosion and further loss of biodiversity 45 with the worst affected regions in Asia and Central and South America. 46
To date, nature has provided humanity with ecosystem services free of charge. Traditional economic thinking has not fully accounted for nature’s inputs, or for the “externalities” of pollutants or waste. There is a growing appreciation that in a closed system such as the biosphere, there are finite natural resources and no true externalities. [fig.4] With a clearer understanding that the degradation of the natural environment and loss of biodiversity pose an existential threat to human societies, there are efforts to quantify the value of natural capital and ecosystem services; 47 to translate biodiversity into economic language in order to better value, measure and protect biodiversity. Natural capital accounting (NCA) is a tool to measure the full extent of a country’s natural assets and give perspective on the link between the economy, ecology and our environment. NCA has its origins in a 1987 UN report Our Common Future 48 which introduced the concept of “sustainable development”, and the 1992 Rio Earth Summit’s Agenda 21 in which Chapter 40 called on countries and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to develop indicators of sustainable development. 49 Methodologies and frameworks for NCA have been developing since then.
Nature-based solutions have gained prominence in climate negotiations: at the most recent Conference of the Parties on climate change in Glasgow (COP26), an entire day was dedicated to the topic of nature. One of the results of COP26 was the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use 38 , in which 141 states representing 90.94% of the world’s forests committed to halting deforestation by 2030. 39 The final agreement of COP26, the Glasgow Climate Pact, also emphasises the importance of protecting, conserving and restoring nature and all of its ecosystems and biodiversity as a means of restoring sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases. 40 While climate change and biodiversity loss crises are inherently connected and, as planetary boundaries, equally important, the political consensus on climate change is more advanced. As a result, it is crucial to ensure that nature-based climate solutions employed in the next few decades are designed and implemented in a way that also supports biodiversity goals.
MARINE PROTECTED AREAS - CLIMATE AND BIODIVERSITY POSITIVE NATURE-BASED SOLUTION Marine protected areas (MPAs) are defined marine areas which are established and managed with a view to achieving long-term nature conservation and sustainable use. 29 There are many types of MPAs found around the globe, for example the European Union’s Natura 2000 sites, 30 Special Protection Areas (SPAs), Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), and no-take zones (NTZs). 31 Multiple studies have shown that MPAs can protect endangered habitats from decline, restore food webs, and sustain ecosystem services, if managed effectively. 32 For example, marine species biomass has nearly tripled over a decade in the Misool Marine Reserve in Indonesia and there are 25 times more sharks inside the reserve than in comparable areas outside. 33 In a small 2.67 sq kmNTZ in Scotland, lobsters have become over four times more abundant. 34 MPAs also play an important role as part of nature- based solutions to climate change. 35 For example, sandbanks, seaweed and saltmarsh play a role in protecting the coastline from severe weather events. 36 Seagrass and mud habitats can sequester or ‘lock up’ atmospheric carbon. 37 29 About Marine Protected Areas, JNCC, 17 May 2019. 30 Natura 2000, European Commission, 2008. 31 About Marine Protected Areas, JNCC, 17 May 2019. 32 J Gallacher et al., Evaluating the success of a marine protected area: a systemat- ic review approach, University of Plymouth - PEARL, 01 December 2016. 33 Global Leaders in Building Effective Marine Protected Areas,WildAid Marine Programme, April 2019. 34 Bryce D. Stewart et al., Marine Conservation Begins at Home: How a Local Community and Protection of a Small Bay Sent Waves of Change Around the UK and Beyond, Frontiers, 13 February 2020. 35 Developing the evidence-base to support ‘climate smart’ decision-making in the marine environment: a focus on MPAs, DEFRA, 2019.
41 Biodiversity and Climate Change Scientific Outcome, IPBES-IPCC, June 2021. 42Dipti Narwal and Priyanka Sehrawat, Bioenergy Crops an Alternative Energy, Research India Publications, 2013. 43 Sophie Jane Tudge et al., The impacts of biofuel crops on local biodiversity: a global synthesis, SpringerLink, 24 July 2021. 44 Biodiversity and Climate Change Scientific Outcome, IPBES-IPCC, June 2021. 45 Monoculture Farming Explained: What Are The Pros And Cons?, Earth Observ- ing System, 20 October 2021. 46 Sophie Jane Tudge et al., The impacts of biofuel crops on local biodiversity: a global synthesis, SpringerLink, 24 July 2021.
47 The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review, HM Treasury, February 2021. 48 1987: Brundtland Report, Federal Office for Spatial Development ARE, 1987. 49 Agenda 21, Department of Economics and Social Affairs, Division for Sustaina- ble Development.
FINANCIAL STABILITY IS NOT SEPARATE FROM EARTH SYSTEM STABILITY: THE TWO ARE NECESSARILY INTERLINKED AND COMPLEXITY MULTIPLIES AND AMPLIFIES RISK FACTORS
[fig. 4]
FINANCIALLY MATERIAL SYSTEMIC RISK Indirect, long-term effects resulting from complex and often non-linear causality, resulting in networked risk and cascading effects
CONVENTIONAL NOTION OF RISK Direct, short-term effects based on linear causality
EARTH SYSTEM STABILITY
FINANCIAL STABILITY
AGGRAVATION RISK Externalities created by one industry, which contribute to large-scale environmental change that comes back and affects the sector itself, and multiple other sectors across short and longer time- scales
38 Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration On Forests And Land Use, UN Climate Change Conference UK 2021, 2 November 2021. 39 Ibid. 40 Glasgow Climate Pact, UNFCCC.
36 Ibid. 37 Ibid.
Source: The Anthropocene reality of financial risk
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker