On the occasion of the celebration of International Biodiversity Day , the UN warned that 150 animal species are lost every day, which is considered the largest wave of extinctions since the dinosaurs disappeared. This was warned by the executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Ahmed Djoghlaf, on the occasion of the commemoration of this day, which this year focuses on the theme “Biodiversity and climate change .”
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The severity of the problem
Djoghlaf said there is no doubt that climate change and loss of biodiversity are “two sides of the same coin” and that it is a consequence of human activity. In this way, he referred to the report prepared by experts from the Intergovernmental Group on Climate Change (IPCC), which reveals that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the planet’s atmosphere is at a level never seen in 650,000 years.
“We are experiencing the largest wave of extinctions after the disappearance of the dinosaurs. Every hour, three species disappear. Every day, more than 150 species are lost. Each year, between 18,000 and 55,000 species become extinct,” said Djoghlaf.
He emphasized that climate change is one of the biggest driving forces behind the current level of unprecedented loss of biodiversity, so that by the end of this century, species and ecosystems will struggle to adapt to changes in temperature and increased rainfall. . On the occasion of the celebration, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, also addressed the international community in a message, highlighting the relationship between biodiversity and sustainable development. “If biodiversity is not conserved and used sustainably, we will not be able to achieve the Millennium Development Goals,” he said.
It is not in vain, he said, that world leaders agreed at the Sustainable Development Summit in Johannesburg in 2002 to drastically reduce the loss of biodiversity by 2010. To make governments aware of the need to meet these set goals, Ban recalled that the UN General Assembly proclaimed 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity. “The global response to the challenges of loss of diversity and the fight against climate change needs will be more rapid and more resolute international, national and local levels , ” he said.
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