A solution to climate emergency?

Conserve biodiversity. Yes, as simple as that. But this is not a simple solution as it needs the collective human push to make it happen.

“Climate change is not an issue separate from biodiversity loss, as one inevitably affects the other. For instance, the destruction, degradation, and loss of forests over the past decades have dramatically increased the amount carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, thereby amplifying the greenhouse gas effect,” said a statement from Haribon Foundation.

The issue of climate change was once again at the forefront. With millions of people across the planet joining the global Climate Strike to the call of emergency made by one person (16-year-old Greta Thunberg), there is no more time to waste to address climate change especially in the season of increased global temperatures and heat waves.

The Foundation further noted that a significant amount of carbon is conserved in natural forests (up to 250 MgC/ha) and can be emitted to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas through deforestation.

“Illegal, uncontrolled use, and blasting of marine habitats such as mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs have also resulted in the massive decline of fish catch and degraded ecosystem services. These benefits from ecosystems include carbon sequestration or the ability to absorb and store carbon dioxide, and protection from floods and storm surges,” said Haribon.

In other words, efforts towards climate change adaptation and mitigation, and the protection and conservation of biodiversity must be looked at interdependently.

The inter-governmental panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) fifth assessment report states that “conserving natural terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems and restoring degraded ecosystems (including their genetic and species diversity) is essential for the overall goals of both the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).”

Since 2017, the Philippines has committed to the Paris Agreement in aiming to increase the ability of countries to respond to the impacts of climate change, and to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) since 1993 with the goal to conserve biological diversity, promote sustainable use of biodiversity components, and equitable sharing of benefits from using its resources.

Ecosystem services from biodiversity are key to eliminating greenhouse gases and protecting communities from disastrous climate change impacts such as flashfloods and fatal storm surges.

Moreover, engineering innovative and renewable sources of human subsistence will also help sustain ecosystems and biodiversity for future generations.

“Despite existing policies and localization efforts, the country must expedite effective implementation of concrete environmental solutions to meet the bar. Our commitments in international agreements demand double the time for our institutions to operationalize and fund conservation programs,” said the Foundation.

“We are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction,” said Thunberg.

Indeed, it is true. The ecosystems and biodiversity are vulnerable to climate change, making efforts to conserve and protect the environment and everything that lives in it more relevant than ever.