Abstract:

This report provides a critical assessment of the full range of issues facing decision makers, including the importance, status, trends and threats to biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people, as well as policy and management response options. Establishing the underlying causes of the loss of biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people provides policymakers with the information needed to develop appropriate response options, technologies, policies, financial incentives and behavior changes. The major driver of the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services to date has been land-use change, caused in part by production-based subsidies that led to unsustainable intensification of agricultural practices. However, the assessment notes that the impact of human induced climate change is increasing and is likely to be one of the most important drivers in the future. The assessment also found that economic growth has, in general, not been decoupled from environmental degradation. The assessment identifies a mix of governance options, policies and management practices that is currently available to reduce the loss of biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people, but recognizes that further commitment is needed to adopt and implement them. Most important is to include the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and the provision of nature’s contributions to people, into all sectoral policies (e.g. agriculture, energy, health, industry, transportation), plans, programmes, strategies and practices - an objective known as “mainstreaming biodiversity”.