Deforestation and grassland conversion are biggest causes of biodiversity loss, warn researchers

14 Nov 2022 --- A new major study from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) published during the COP27 climate summit, has demonstrated that fighting climate change alone will not be enough to prevent the further loss of biodiversity.

According to Dr. Nicolas Titeux, one of the two first authors of the study, “the various direct drivers should be addressed with similar ambition as the climate crisis and as a whole.” 

Fundamental causes of climate change 
Greenhouse gases have been known to be the leading cause of the climate crisis for decades, but just as important is understanding what is behind the enormous and rapid decline in species. 

Notably, the livestock sectors are a significant contributor to greenhouse gases. Convincing farmers to ditch livestock and shift to growing alternative protein crops is doable but can’t happen immediately – it needs careful management and massive funding to help farmers feel secure enough to take the plunge. This is the assertion from a recent ProVeg report examining how this major transition can happen in reality and be financially viable on a large scale and around the world.

A million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction within the next few decades without significant countermeasures. 

Ecosystems worldwide are changing away from their natural condition, which means they are increasingly unable to provide vital ecosystem services for human well-being.Ecosystems worldwide are changing away from their natural condition, which means they are increasingly unable to provide vital ecosystem services for human well-being.

The authors of the study, led by Dr. Pedro Jaureguiberry from UNC in Argentina and Dr. Titeux, who works at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology but conducted the most significant part of the study at the UFZ with funding from iDiv, found that climate change is already in second place as a direct driver of species loss in the oceans. 

Here, the exploitation of fish stocks plays the biggest role. However, based on current developments, the authors assume that the importance of climate change for species loss and the decline of ecosystem services will increase in the coming years and decades and move up in the ranking of direct drivers.

Need for nature-based solutions
This major study should be a game-changer for understanding how to tackle biodiversity loss. 

Jaureguiberry argues: “Our study brings comprehensive and rigorous information on which drivers cause the most damage to biodiversity at multiple levels, from regions and realms to the different facets of biodiversity, highlighting the importance of each driver in particular contexts. Hopefully, this will contribute to a more holistic approach to generate more efficient policies to reverse biodiversity loss.”

In particular, the research demonstrates the need for a more holistic approach to tackle the twin threats of climate and biodiversity crisis together. 

Titeux points out, “The current global agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change can focus too narrowly on one driver, overlooking or, in the worst-case, undermining solutions for others.”

“Climate change and biodiversity loss have been tackled largely separately by different policies that haven’t always considered the other problem,” adds Professor Andy Purvis from the Natural History Museum in London. “For example, biofuels are proposed as one way to get to net zero, but the expansion of plantations into natural forest that could result would be terrible for nature.”

The paper also highlights some “nature-positive” solutions that tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, such as large-scale restoration of natural forests and adequate protection of coastal wetlands.

In a string of developments during COP27, FAO pledged a detailed roadmap showing how the food sector can align with a 1.5°C pathway and be climate-resilient and address nature and food security goals.

Meanwhile, FoodIngredientsFirst also recently reported that the green transformation of agri-food systems is “at the heart of the COP27 agenda.”

The Rockefeller Foundation announced more than US$11 million in grants to ten organizations scaling Indigenous and regenerative agriculture practices worldwide. According to the organization, the evidence clarifies the central role food systems can play in mitigating climate change.

In contrast, more companies should make zero-deforestation supply chain commitments to significantly reduce deforestation and protect diverse ecosystems, according to researchers from the University of Cambridge, Boston University, ETH Zurich and New York University. Corporate pledges not to buy soybeans produced on land deforested after 2006 have reduced tree clearance in the Brazilian Amazon by just 1.6% between 2006 and 2015. 

Edited by Elizabeth Green