Editorial: Save the biodiversity
We need to use biodiversity in a sustainable way, so that we can better respond to rising climate change challenges
A steady decline in biodiversity due to climate change is posing a threat to food security. This is particularly alarming in developing countries in the Asia Pacific region, according to a report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a United Nations organisation. Land-use changes, pollution and climate change are the major factors causing biodiversity loss. The Asia-Pacific region is home to half of the world’s undernourished people and nearly 45% of the population cannot afford a sustainable and healthy diet. At the heart of some of these nutrition challenges is a food system that is currently founded on a narrow genetic base of 10-15 crops. We have lost much of the diversity that was, historically, commonplace in our diets and increasing dietary diversity is a key part of the solution to ending malnutrition. Plants, animals and micro-organisms that are the bedrock of food production are in decline. With one million species currently at risk of extinction, the state of global biodiversity loss spells trouble for nature and economies. If these critical species are lost, it places the future of our food system under severe threat. Halting deforestation and forest degradation, while enabling forest and landscape restoration, are also vital components of addressing the challenge of biodiversity loss and climate change. There is no doubt that rampant overexploitation of the limited natural resources over the past few decades in the name of development is the main driver of this humongous loss. India too has contributed to this dismal state of affairs.
Climate change in India impacts key areas like water resources, agriculture, natural ecosystems, health and the food chain. The relentless strain on the flora and fauna and their habitats in pursuit of short-term goals and polluting industrialisation have pushed the people dependent on agriculture, fishing and forestry to the brink. This has jeopardised the other aim which is crucial to protecting biodiversity: that of reducing carbon emissions to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees C. Policy-makers must step up conservation efforts to mitigate the crisis before it is too late. The International Day for Biological Diversity, observed recently, provided an opportunity for the nations to unite in collaborative efforts to address the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. The objective is to achieve sustainable development, ensure food security, eliminate poverty and mitigate climate change. Such a united response is needed urgently, given the fact that the world is relying on an ever smaller number of foodstuffs to feed a growing population that is expected to rise to around 10 billion people by 2050. We need to use biodiversity in a sustainable way, so that we can better respond to rising climate change challenges and produce food in a way that doesn’t harm our environment. The lack of biodiversity can leave food production much more vulnerable to shocks.
