UNEP-WCMC’s Post

In December the International Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (#IPBES) published its #Nexus assessment summary report for policy-makers (the full report will be out next year). Coming out just before Christmas it didn't get the attention it deserves but clearly describes how #biodiversity, #water, #food, #health and #climate are all interlinked. It outlines how negative trends in any of these areas all compound each other and also presents integrated responses to these interlinked areas. If you haven't looked at it already, I highly recommend a read - hopefully it will get more attention and be influential in 2025: https://lnkd.in/eM4inJNv

🌿👩🏼🌾🐞 Happy International Biological Diversity Day! This year’s theme is "Be Part of the Plan." As farmers urge policymakers to speed up access to biocontrol, we’re asking: Can Europe’s biodiversity, farmers and food security wait another decade? Unsustainable pest control practices are increasing biodiversity loss, which endangers farmer livelihoods, food security, and the environment. Achieving #resilient and #sustainable agriculture necessitates access to #Biocontrol technologies. Why? Because biocontrol offers proven alternatives for managing pests and diseases in an eco-friendly manner, supporting greater #biodiversity and a healthier #environment. Jennifer Lewis, our Executive Director, underlines that, “Considering that food security and strategic autonomy are top EU priorities, policymakers need to accelerate access to biocontrol tools, so they are in farmers’ hands asap.” Learn more about how to accelerate farmer access to biocontrol, and build back biodiversity ⬇️

👉 The project legumES aims to promote best practices in agrobiodiverse legume-based cropping systems, and to implement methodologies and tools which balance the environmental and economic benefits of legumes across scales. This includes meeting EU targets for reducing chemical inputs and losses, combating climate change, reversing biodiversity loss, and optimizing nutritional provisioning. #Legumes #Resilience #LegumeCrops #HomeGrown #WildLegumes #BiologicalNitrogenFixation #FunctionalDiversity #CropDiversification #ForgottenFood #OpportunityCrops #Innovation

Yesterday the IPBES released their Assessment Report looking at the interlinkages between food, biodiversity, water and health. The report highlights that funding for nature is dwarfed by both public and private finance that goes towards nature-harming activities. 💰 Unaccounted-for costs of prioritizing short-term financial results and lack of accountability of nature exploitation is at least $10-$25 trillion per year. 🦋 Biodiversity loss has direct negative impacts on food security and nutrition, water quality and availability, health and wellbeing outcomes. These impacts are often most significantly felt by the poorest. 🥕 Shifting to healthy and sustainable diets and reducing food waste will benefit the health of people and planet. This shift will free up land, providing in a range of co-benefits for nexus elements, such as biodiversity conservation and carbon sinks. 🧑🌾 Agroecological approaches has positive effects for biodiversity and climate change. Overall, the report identifies 70 solutions as shown below in this chart from the report.👇 A summary of the report can be found here 👉 https://lnkd.in/e8vY72E2 #biodiversity #climatechange #food #diets #foodsecurity #water #health

This World Food Day, we’re spotlighting the revolutionary work of bee-io. 🐝 Traditional honey production methods aren’t exactly the bee's knees. They cause: > Mass extinction of local bee populations > A 33% global decline in bees over 2 decades > A loss in biodiversity Bee-io has pioneered a bee-free alternative, whilst preserving the same nutritional value and medicinal benefits of bee-made honey. It’s almost molecularly identical to the real thing. 🤯 Find out how they do it! 👇 https://bit.ly/3BTYZoH

Critical to establish a #systems framework to #nature and #human #interactions. As the paper shows there are high #biodiversity impact areas where decisions are especially critical. #Tradeoffs between monetized goods and services and non-financial goods and services have to be made explicit. This is why #doublemateriality is so important.

This report is getting a lot of attention, as it should. I like the way that this is presented. This one is high on my reading list.

🌍 A New Resource to Safeguard Bee Populations: Introducing ApisTox 🌍 The global decline in bee populations is a critical issue for agriculture, biodiversity, and environmental health. In response, we are proud to introduce ApisTox, a comprehensive dataset focused on the toxicity of pesticides to honey bees (Apis mellifera). ApisTox integrates and enhances data from trusted sources like ECOTOX and PPDB, offering a robust and curated collection of toxicity information. It includes vital details such as pesticide toxicity levels, publication timelines, and cross-references to external chemical databases. This dataset is an invaluable tool for advancing research in bee conservation, supporting sustainable agricultural practices, and improving chemoinformatics in molecular property prediction. ApisTox is set to play a key role in safeguarding bee populations and promoting environmentally conscious decision-making. Code: https://lnkd.in/gk8tFQ2q Paper: https://lnkd.in/gJ_BV5jH #BeeConservation #SustainableAgriculture #ApisTox #EnvironmentalScience #PesticideToxicity #Biodiversity #DataDrivenResearch

Did you know that reducing food waste is key to preserving global biodiversity? A recent study quantifies the impact of food waste at different supply chain stages on species loss. In Germany, avoidable food waste leads to the potential loss of 0.3 vertebrate and 1.5 plant species globally, with household waste being the largest contributor at 47%. Policies targeting food services, especially individual catering, could significantly reduce this impact. The study also highlights that animal products from pigs and cattle, particularly affecting amphibians in Brazil, are the most impactful. To learn more, read the paper by Jakob Bogenreuther, Thomas Kastner, Felicitas Schneider, Thomas Koellner ⬇ https://lnkd.in/g6jqHC-K

Hey #nextgeneration, dear world, this must concern us all! 🌱 95% of global food production depends on soil, however over one third of our soils are moderately to highly degraded. #soilhealth and #biodiversity play a crucial role in ensuring food diversity and they are essential for making our food production systems more sustainable. 🌍 The FAO has launched it's 2024-27 Action Plan highlighting the important role of biodiversity in supporting food networks, from pollinators to soil microorganisms, in and sustaining the livelihoods of various communities worldwide. Read more below. And make sure to visit Bayer to understand our vision and concrete action towards regenerative agricultural systems: https://lnkd.in/d-uVG3EC #TeamBayer #RegenerativeAg