“We Are Currently, In A Systematic Manner, Exterminating All Non-Human Living Beings.”
By Jo Lorenz
Our government’s have failed to fulfil the pledges they made a decade ago to protect our planet’s crucial biodiversity.
So now what?
Ten years ago, 190 member states of the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity committed to strategic targets to limit the effect humankind was having on our natural world by the year 2020. These targets included limiting habitat loss and phasing out fossil fuels and were set to preserve our planet’s crucial biodiversity, i.e. the variety and variability of life on Earth.
Yet according to the UN’s latest Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO) report, released on Tuesday September 15, we have well and truly f_cked it up. Not even one of the biodiversity targets are going to be fully met.
Is this a shock? No! Last year, the IPBES — the UN's panel on biodiversity — warned us that one million species are facing extinction due to human activity devastating three-quarters of the land on our planet. Humankind’s footprint on our planet has been utterly catastrophic. In fact, according to a WWF report this month, 70 percent of our wild animals, birds and fish have died out since the 1970s. 70 percent!
"We are currently, in a systematic manner, exterminating all non-human living beings," said Anne Larigauderie, IPBES executive secretary. Ummm, sh_t.
Okay humans! Enough already! COVID-19 has to be our wake-up call — our catalyst to recognition that we as individuals need to put pressure on our governments and industries to enact change.
Is this fair? No! It is not! The onus should not be on the individual — it should be on our governments whose jobs it is to serve our needs and protect our future. However, for the most part, many of our “leaders” are walking around aimlessly with their d_cks in their hands. **Coughs** Trump, Scomo **Coughs**
The report calls for a finite pivot away from ‘business as usual’ and outlines areas that recognise the value of biodiversity and ecosystems, as well as the urgency for humankind to drastically reduce negative human behaviours.
Notably the report outlines our need to immediately end our worldwide reliance on fossil fuels, and consequently obliterating all fossil fuel subsidies, which the GBO estimates is approximately USD 500 billion each year. In fact, the lead author of the report, David Cooper, even openly said there are too many vested interests preventing governments from reducing support of the fossil fuel industry **Coughs** Trump, Scomo **Coughs** Apologies, I appear to have my children’s future lodged in my throat.
Okay, so, what’s the plan?
The UN’s GBO report includes a plan to be enacted over the next decade to 2030, to help reverse the considerable damage we’ve caused. This plan included reductions in food waste, addressing overconsumption and considerable changes to our farming systems. We need to hold our governments accountable to this plan. We need to demand they do what must be done.
Yet more than this, we need to call upon our elected officials to embrace and invest in Indigenous peoples communities and wisdom. Our Indigenous folks have time and time again proven their abilities to protect and manage our planet’s fragile ecosystem and they need to be at the heart of our future and ongoing conservation initiatives.
We are in a planet emergency. There can be no denial of that. No conspiracy theories. No more d_cks in hands.
Please use your privileges to vote for governments focussed on climate justice. Please use your computer to lobby for renewables. And please use your outrage to fight for our planet!
No more excuses.
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