UK-based think tank International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) has proposed a biodiversity loss and damage fund to address non-climate-related impacts on nature in developing countries.
The proposition was pitched in an article titled “Applying the concept of loss and damage to biodiversity loss” on the IIED website, by biodiversity team leader Dilys Roe and researcher Nora Nisi.
Under the newly adopted existing climate loss and damage fund, operationalised at the COP28 UN negotiations in Dubai after being agreed upon at the previous year’s COP27, biodiversity losses could be eligible for payments as long as they are triggered by climate change.
But while species and ecosystems are severely impacted by climate change worldwide, “the main drivers of biodiversity loss are habitat loss and degradation as well as overexploitation”, IIED said.
“Losses and damages from these non-climatic drivers would not be eligible for reparations under the climate-linked loss and damage fund. Yet these impacts are significant, particularly for poor and marginalised people who often depend directly on natural resources and the services nature provides to meet their immediate livelihood needs.”
At the COP15 UN biodiversity summit in 2022, wealthy countries committed to paying more to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.
Notably, target 19 called for “increasing total biodiversity related international financial resources from developed countries … to developing countries … to at least $20 billion per year by 2025, and to at least $30 bln per year by 2030.”
However, the agreement did not address the compensation for historical losses.
“For losses and damages not associated with climate change, we argue that there is a case for a consumer pays principle, whereby richer countries should effectively pay compensation for the damage associated with their consumption,” IIED said.
THE IMPACTS OF BIODIVERSITY LOSS
According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), agriculture is estimated to threaten over 85% of the species at risk of extinction, making the global food system the main driver of biodiversity loss.
A government report in the UK calculated that domestic consumption of crop, cattle, and timber commodities in 2021 was linked to an estimated 30,656 hectares of deforestation worldwide.
IIED identifies a number of losses and damages associated with biodiversity loss, including:
- Reduced food and nutritional security
- Loss of cultural values and traditional knowledge
- Increased vulnerability to climate change impacts
- Increased vulnerability to disease and illness
For example, researchers found that overfishing by EU countries in West Africa led to a surge in poverty, unemployment, social stress, and health problems in the local communities that depend on fishing.
“Not only is it crucial that the loss and damage fund adequately addresses the loss and damage to biodiversity and ecosystem services caused by climate change, but an additional mechanism may be required to address the loss that occurs from unsustainable consumption,” IIED said.
“A starting point is more debate about the justice issues associated with biodiversity loss and greater recognition of unsustainable consumption as one of the key drivers of that loss,” researchers concluded.
By Sergio Colombo – sergio@carbon-pulse.com
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