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Biodiversity, climate, and crisis: A triple threat
The problems of natural crises, climate and biodiversity loss are linked – but fortunately so are the solutions. To mobilize greater action towards the issue, this year’s World Environment Day focuses on the theme of biodiversity, and the urgent need to protect it.
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Water crisis: Residents of Citapen hamlet in Weninggalih village, Bogor, West Java, carry away water taken from a well during the dry season on July 25, 2019. Prolonged droughts in many parts of the world have been linked to climate change. (The Jakarta Post/P.J. Leo)
T
he COVID-19 pandemic has been a wake-up call globally. While all eyes are on addressing the public health issue on hand, a crisis such as this is actually a silent reminder that we are at a tipping point of two of the world’s greatest yet invisible enemies – climate change and biodiversity loss.
These three global challenges are interlinked, through the destructive relationship between humanity and the natural world. In fact, a number of researchers are suggesting a link between humanity’s destruction of biodiversity and the conditions conducive for new viruses and diseases such as COVID-19 that were once contained in the wild.
Over the last 50 years, human population has doubled, global economy has almost quadrupled and global trade has increased tenfold. While our lives have benefitted greatly from the development, it has also led to the destruction of natural habitats and ecosystems, and consequently loss of biodiversity.
Read also: Deforestation decreases globally but remains alarming: Report
Recognizing that biodiversity is not in conflict with national development, but in fact, an important part of it, Indonesia launched the Indonesian Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan to protect and sustainably use these natural resources.
Such efforts are critical to mitigate the impact of human activities on the environment. While the COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented crisis, it is certainly not the first one to be tied back to human activities. It can be seen around the globe in different forms – from bushfires in Brazil, the United States and Australia to locust infestations across East Africa and India.
The problems of natural crises, climate and biodiversity loss are linked – but fortunately so are the solutions. To mobilize greater action towards the issue, this year’s World Environment Day focuses on the theme of biodiversity, and the urgent need to protect it.
