Archived press release

UN biodiversity summit: world must act to protect wildlife and people

18 October 2010

As the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP-10) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), gets underway in Japan today, Friends of the Earth is calling on rich countries to play a leading role in achieving strong and urgent international action to protect the world's wildlife and people by addressing the root causes of biodiversity loss and implementing solutions.
 
Friends of the Earth's Director of Policy and Campaigns Craig Bennett said:

"We have failed to meet targets to protect the natural world - the climate is changing and species are diminishing so fast that we're killing off the very life support system we all depend on.

"From the food that we eat to the fuel in our cars, our demanding lifestyles are pushing us beyond the world's environmental limits - wrecking habitats, increasing emissions, and hitting the world's poorest communities hardest.

"The UK's appetite for meat devastated an area of Brazilian rainforest twice the size of Greater London last year, with cattle ranching and animal feed plantations destroying the Earth's lungs.

"And filling our cars with biodiesel is driving deforestation in Asia, threatening the survival of the orang-utan.

"There is no planet B - these are tough economic times but protecting the natural world is no luxury and failure to act now will cost us dearly long term."

He added:

"We can't place a price tag on everything alive - the world must stop focusing on markets for trading nature, and find the political will to collectively deal with the root causes of the problem.

"We need a new financial system that directs business capital towards greener investments, and recognises the value of nature and the rights of local people.

"Halting biodiversity loss goes hand in hand with tackling climate change - rich countries must play a leading role as they have historically contributed most to both problems.

"The UK Government should take firm action to help protect wildlife and people by backing planet-friendly farming, funding greener transport, and increasing recycling targets."

ENDS

Notes to editor

1. Friends of the Earth has produced a media briefing on the various issues being discussed at the CBD summit

2. Friends of the Earth is calling on Parties to the CBD to:

• stop focusing on false solutions to biodiversity loss such as markets to trade in biodiversity;
• introduce measures to tackle the drivers of biodiversity loss; including the reform of the global financial system to steer business interests away from environmentally destructive trading in goods and towards ventures that help protect the world's species and habitats, hand in hand with tackling climate change;
• ensure any new policies to incentivise biodiversity protection also recognise the rights of local people over land and access to resources - as they are often the best guardians of their local environment - and recognise the intrinsic and societal value of biodiversity.

The green campaigning charity says the Parties should:

• adopt a new strategic plan with ambitious, compulsory, measurable and outcome-orientated targets to reduce biodiversity loss;
• commit to the integration of biodiversity into other national policies on issues such as finance, agriculture and infrastructure planning;
• ensure the reduction of resource use in rich countries - who have historically contributed most to biodiversity loss - in order to bring resource use down to a sustainable level where people live within their environmental limits;
• introduce national biodiversity indicators that track the progress of different countries in protecting biodiversity, and enforcement measures to ensure targets are met;
• allocate sufficient funding to make sure the Convention on Biological Diversity is successful.

3. Friends of the Earth is campaigning for specific measures that would address the drivers of biodiversity loss and help protect species and habitats. These include:

• reform of the Common Agricultural Policy to reduce our reliance on imported soy and shift to more sustainable farming methods;
• the UK Government to pass the Sustainable Livestock Bill to support planet-friendly British farming and rainforest-free meals on our plates;
• the EU and UK tp drop their biofuels targets and invest in greener transport alternatives to driving cars to cut emissions from transport;
• rich countries to reduce and monitor their resource use, wasting less and (in the UK especially), recycling more.

4. For more information on Friends of the Earth's campaign for planet friendly farming, and to add your voice to the call to the Government to pass the Sustainable Livestock Bill, please visit www.jointhemoovement.com.

5. For more information on the true extent of deforestation in Brazil because of cattle ranching and soy farming see our recent From Forest to Fork report.

6. The Conference on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an international treaty which came into force in 1993, and has three main goals: the conservation of biodiversity; sustainable use of biodiversity; and ensuring the fair distribution of the benefits of natural resources. The 10th Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity takes place in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, from 18-29 October 2010. Heads of State are expected to attend the last few days of the summit from 27-29 October.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust