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In Brief | November 2023
The Global Stocktake Recognises the Role of Protecting Nature. At COP28, policymakers must respond.
The world is facing a planetary emergency wrought by the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. Of the two, it is climate change that has taken centre stage in international discourse on the environmental woes of the planet – for good reason. Over the past year, extreme weather events bearing the fingerprints of climate change have wreaked death and destruction around the world, from heatwaves in Europe to floods in Africa.
These events come amid dire warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations’ (UN) climate science body, on escalating climate impact due to rising emissions. These developments will add pressure on countries gathering in Dubai in December 2023 for COP28, the UN climate change conference, to secure an ambitious outcome that will help avert catastrophic climate impact. But the world should not take its eye off the other impending crisis of biodiversity loss at COP28.
There are multiple drivers of biodiversity loss, including climate change, overexploitation, habitat loss, pollution, and invasive species. With one million species expected to face extinction in the coming decades, the planet is losing both her richness and abundance of life — with implications for climate action.
Read our brief to find out how research relates to global discussions and how science can contribute to policy decisions to address the planetary crises.
