The Convention on Biological Diversity has released its Global Biodiversity Outlook 5, a report on the role of biodiversity in sustainable development, the state of biodiversity in 2020, and pathways to achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity whereby “biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people.”
Concluding that biodiversity “will continue to decline” on the current trajectory, but that “it is not too late to slow, halt and eventually reverse current trends,” the report calls for a series of actions including the following:
- Major increases in the extent and effectiveness of well-connected protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures;
- Large-scale restoration of degraded habitats;
- Keeping climate change well below 2° C and close to 1.5° C above pre-industrial levels; and
- Addressing pressures including invasive species, pollution, and the “unsustainable exploitation” of biodiversity especially in marine and inland water ecosystems
To enable a sustainable fisheries and oceans transition, the report calls for protecting and restoring marine and coastal ecosystems, rebuilding fisheries, and managing aquaculture and other uses of the oceans to ensure sustainability and enhance food security and livelihoods. Promotion of marine spatial planning and integrated management of marine and coastal development and marine activities using an ecosystem approach and a biodiversity-inclusive environmental assessment is mentioned as a key component for this transition.
