What is Biological Diversity (Biodiversity)? And, Why Is It Important?

Aug 26

4 min read

Biodiversity is considered to be the variety and variability of life and the interactions between living things at all levels on land, in water and in the sea and air – genes, populations, species and ecosystems. It’s probably more correct to say that biodiversity is a characteristic of resilient ecosystems; making those ecosystems both more robust, and productive, as well as enabling a plethora of planetary services.

It is crucial for ecosystem stability, and provides essential services like pollination, nutrient cycling, water purification, and climate regulation. It also supports food security, human health, and economic development.

But, biodiversity is currently under threat due to human activities such as habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, and overexploitation of resources. It’s declining faster now than at any time in human history! Our biosphere (the total sum of all ecosystems on the planet) aer being altered to an unparalleled degree, eroding the very foundations of our economies, food security, health and quality of life worldwide. This decline is projected to continue or worsen under business-as- usual scenarios, so much so, that the latest World Economic Form Risk Report places this as a top 3 Risk for the next decade.

So, Why Is Biodiversity Important?

People and companies face physical and systemic risks from biodiversity loss due to their dependence on ecosystem services. This may mean that access to, and availability of crops, fish, timber, and water becomes strained. Think of all the things you need water, and timber for alone.

And the impacts of the global nature and climate emergency are already being felt: displacement and deaths from increasingly frequent extreme weather events, increasing food insecurity, depleted soils, a lack of access to fresh water, and an increase in the spread of zoonotic diseases to name just a few. These impacts affect all of us but fall disproportionately on the poorest and most marginalised people.

Not only that, biodiversity loss is shown to be linked to Natural Resource Shortages, a Critical Change to Earth Systems, and Ecosystem Collapse (green) with further links to Chronic Health Conditions, Infectious Diseases, Involuntary Migration as well Supply Chain Disruption and Inter-state violence, showing a big range of problems as a result.

From a business point of view, companies that fail to act will face growing transition risks, e.g. if they fall out of step with developments in regulations, technology, markets and consumer preferences. It’s not surprising then that leading companies are increasingly recognizing the value and fragility of critical ecosystems, rethinking their strategies and value chains, and innovating to reduce their negative impacts on nature.

So, what are we doing about biodiversity loss?

In December 2022, at COP15 (the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity), the nations of the world adopted the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). It is the biodiversity equivalent of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, aiming to galvanize urgent, transformative action by governments, business and society to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

The post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework is centred on a vision of a world living in harmony with nature, where:

“By 2050, biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people.”

The GBF’s 2030 mission is: “To take urgent action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss to put nature on a path to recovery for the benefit of people and planet by conserving and sustainably using biodiversity, and ensuring the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources, while providing the necessary means of implementation.”

But, what actions can we take to enhance biodiversity?

The Kunming-Montreal post 2020-Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) has 4 long-term goals for 2050 related to the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity.

The 4 long-term goals are:

A. Protect and Restore; the integrity, connectivity and resilience of all ecosystems so that they are maintained, enhanced, or restored, substantially increasing the area of natural ecosystems by 2050

B. Prosper with Nature; Ensure that iodiversity is sustainably used and managed and nature’s contributions to people, including ecosystem functions and services, are valued, maintained and enhanced, with those currently in decline being restored

C. Share Benefits Fairly; Ensure that the monetary and non-monetary benefits from the utilization of genetic resources and digital sequence information on genetic resources, and of traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, as applicable, are shared fairly and equitably, including, as appropriate with indigenous peoples and local communities

D. Invest and Collaborate; Ensure that there are adequate means of implementation, including financial resources, capacity-building, technical and scientific cooperation, and access to and transfer of technology to fully implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework are secured and equitably accessible to all Parties, especially to Parties in developing country

The 4 goals of the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity are fed by the 2030 Mission which has 🎯23 action oriented global targets. And, these 23 targets are split across 3 broad categories of action:

1️⃣ Reducing Threats to Biodiversity

2️⃣ Meeting People’s Needs through Sustainable Use and Benefit Sharing

3️⃣ Developing Tools and Solutions for Implementation and Mainstreaming of Biodiversity