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GOOD COP BAD COP?
15/12/2022
With a million or more species threatened with extinction and a catastrophic situation manifesting in the natural world, COP15 in Montreal is one of the most important international government meetings of current times. It runs until 19 December and I will write another item on it for this web page when it is over and we know how it has gone. Let us hope it is a good COP, not one that falls short of its aims as COP27 in Egypt did in several areas of arresting the use of fossil fuels. Yet we must reduce CO2 emissions by at least 45% by 2030 to avert planetary catastrophe.
The crises of climate change and the natural world are inextricably linked, and we cannot resolve one without the other – the focus of COP15 is on the latter. We must end the devastation of the natural ecosystems of the planet (seas, forests, wetlands, prairies, montane areas, etc.). All of these absorb gaseous carbon from the atmosphere and lock it up, yet we are destroying them, and they are the foundation of biodiversity. Our destruction of them releases CO2 in a vicious circle.
So what are the main actions we should take, and are being discussed at COP15, to check biodiversity decline? As well as the reduction/elimination of fossil fuels, among the most important are:
- Halting the natural and semi-natural habitat destruction caused by urban sprawl and development, forestry and farming. Building developments need to be minimised and, where unavoidable, greener and more contained, all with solar panel roofs. It is good to plant trees, but they should be native species with an associated woodland habitat in ground, shrub and canopy botanical strata, avoiding exotic species monocultures. Farming, particularly intensive farming, must be replaced by food production that takes up less land such as mycoprotein production facilities, and there must be a much less meat production.
- Ending the over-exploitation of natural resources. This applies in every natural domain from the highest mountains to the deepest ocean trenches, all of which are suffering from depletion or risk of depletion by human activities such as over-fishing, nature-destructive land use and wildlife predation by domestic cats.
- Drastically stopping pollution of the air, land and water of our planet. Apart from the biodiversity damage it causes, it is disgusting and shameful that we, an intelligent species, behave so badly and with such disdain for our environment. We have probably all seen pictures of ocean gyres which are just masses of floating waste and junk, and we have all heard about the disgraceful way huge quantities of raw sewage are being released into our rivers[1] and onto our beaches, but you only have to walk down any country lane or through any woodland to see litter everywhere and, mind-bogglingly, little packets of dog poo hung in bushes. What do the people who do this think? That some fairy is going to come along and collect it for them?? It beggars belief.
- Controlling species that have become so invasive that they are destroying biodiversity. In the UK, this includes Indian or Himalayan balsam, Japanese knotweed, several aquatic plants, Asian hornets, processionary moths, mink and many others.
As I write, the progress at COP15 does not look as good as hoped and it could be heading for a bad COP. The urgency is so far absent but there are a few days to run so let us hope all the nations wake up and realise just how urgent it is.
Betts Ecology, as you all know, focus on protecting and enhancing biodiversity and promoting healthy ecosystems on all the sites we manage. We work to reduce invasive species, heal damaged habitats, eliminate pollution and promote education about the application of sound ecological practices.
© Betts Ecology
[1] You may like to read this! https://tinyurl.com/3uydcnfh
