Transformative Change Urgently Needed to Halt Biodiversity Collapse

The need for urgent transformative change 

Deep, fundamental shifts in how people view and interact with the natural world are urgently needed to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and safeguard life on Earth, warns a landmark new report by the IPBES.  

IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body established by States to strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development The report was prepared over three years by more than 100 leading experts from 42 countries from all regions of the world. 

The cost of delaying actions to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and nature’s decline around the world by even a decade is estimated to be double that of acting now. Acting immediately can also unlock massive business and innovation opportunities through sustainable economic approaches, such as nature-positive economy, ecological economy and Mother-Earth centric economy. Recent estimates are that more than $10tn in business opportunity value could be generated and 395 million jobs could be supported globally by 2030. 

The report defines transformative change as fundamental system-wide shifts in views – ways of thinking, knowing and seeing; structures – ways of organising, regulating and governing; and practices – ways of doing, behaving and relating. 

“Promoting and accelerating transformative change is essential to meeting the 23 action-oriented targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework by 2030 and four goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework by 2030 and for achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity, which describes a world where all life can thrive,” said Prof. Agrawal, co-chair of the assessment with Prof. Arun Agrawal. “Transformative change is rarely the outcome of a single event, driver, or actor. It is better understood as changes that each of us can create, and multiple cascading shifts that trigger and reinforce one another, often in unexpected ways.” 

The underlying causes of biodiversity loss identified by the report are the disconnection of people from nature and domination over nature and other people; the inequitable concentration of power and wealth; and the prioritisation of short-term individual and material gains. 

The authors created and analysed a database of hundreds of separate case studies of initiatives around the world with transformative potential. Their analysis shows that positive outcomes for diverse economic and environmental indicators can happen in a decade or less. The analysis also demonstrates that initiatives addressing greater numbers of indirect drivers of biodiversity loss and nature’s decline, and those in which diverse actors work together, lead to more positive outcomes for societies, economies and nature. 

Strategies for change 

Embracing insights and evidence from diverse knowledge systems, disciplines and approaches, the Transformative Change Report highlights five key strategies and associated actions that have complementary and synergistic effects, and which countries and people can pursue to advance deliberate transformative change for global sustainability: 

Conserve, restore and regenerate places of value to people and nature that exemplify biocultural diversity 

Drive systematic change and mainstreaming biodiversity in the sectors most responsible for nature’s decline 

Transform economic systems for nature and equity  

Transform governance systems to be inclusive, accountable and adaptive  

Shift views and values to recognise human-nature interconnectedness 

 

The power of collaboration  

A key message from the report is that there is a role for every person and organisation to create transformative change at multiple levels, but that coalitions of actors and actor groups are more effective in pursuing transformative change than change pursued individually.  

Governments across all levels are found to be key in engaging diverse coalitions of State and non- State actors. The report finds that current government actions for transformative change are undermined by a mismatch between the scale of biodiversity challenges and the jurisdiction of separate, siloed institutions or the length of time for policy implementation compared to the length of time between elections that can bring new political authorities to power that oppose such policies. 

The report also highlights the important role civil society plays in bringing about transformative change by mobilising citizens, creating initiatives that propagate change and by holding governments and the private sector accountable for harmful environmental practices. 

Find out more here.