This briefing note was published in September 2020 to coincide with the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Biological diversity is the variety of life on Earth and the natural patterns it forms. The biodiversity seen today is the result of 4.5 billion years of evolution and, increasingly, of human influence as well. It forms the web of life, of which humans are integral and upon which people and the planet so fully depend.
Biodiversity breakdown
Species are now disappearing hundreds, or even thousands, of times faster than the natural background rate of extinction. The scientific community has repeatedly sounded the alarm on the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste.
Over half the world’s total GDP is moderately or highly dependent on nature, which also provides medicine and social benefits.
The highest levels of terrestrial biodiversity are found in tropical forests, which host over 80 per cent of terrestrial species. Around 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihood, and a quarter of all modern medicines come from tropical forest plants. Yet, deforestation is continuing at an alarming rate, particularly in tropical regions: 7 million hectares of forest, area roughly the size of the Republic of Ireland, are destroyed every year, particularly in tropical regions.
The need to conserve biodiversity is not restricted to the terrestrial environment. Oceans also play a vital role in mitigating the climate crisis, and are a source of protein for some 3 billion people. They also contain countless species, of which there is little information, that could be the source of novel medicines and materials.
Biodiversity and emerging pandemics
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the complex linkages between emerging infectious diseases and the unregulated trade in wildlife, habitat loss, biodiversity fragmentation and shifting dispersal patterns caused by new weather extremes. Research shows that the prevalence of emerging zoonotic diseases is rising. About 60 per cent of all infectious diseases known to infect humans, and 75 per cent of emerging infectious diseases, are zoonotic. Unless countries take dramatic steps to curb zoonotic contagions, global outbreaks like COVID-19 will inevitably become more common. Biodiversity has been largely neglected in COVID-19 recovery spending, signalling a worrying trend.
Habitat alteration and urbanization create pressures on biodiversity, and ecological niches for generalist species, like bats and rodents, bring them closer contact with people. By virtue of their diversity, these species are more likely to be reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens.
Biodiversity and the SDGs
Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require deep and urgent transformations in governance and economic systems. These transformations need to be adopted and put in place in the course of the Decade of Action to Deliver the Global Goals.
While the primary biodiversity Goals (SDG 14 and 15) seek to conserve and sustainably use the marine and terrestrial environment, all 17 SDGs ultimately depend on healthy ecosystems and biodiversity. The health of the planet ultimately underpins people’s health and well-being.
The 2022 SDG report shows that progress towards these two goals is lagging behind others. As part of the deep transformative change required to achieve the SDGs, there is an urgent need to value and recognize the contribution that nature makes to human well-being.
What UNEP is doing to address biodiversity
UNEP supports the protection of forests for social, economic and environmental benefits.
UNEP and partners support sustainable land management and lead the Decade on Ecosystems Restoration 2021-2030. The Decade aims to gather the science and best practices on ecosystem restoration and encourage action.
UNEP collaborates with biodiversity-related conventions and scientific bodies. The Convention on Biological Diversity is an international, legally binding treaty covering biodiversity at all levels: ecosystems, species and genetic resources. It also covers biotechnology through the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. The Convention recognizes that biological diversity is about more than plants, animals and micro-organisms and their ecosystems. It is about people and our need for food security, medicines, fresh air and water, shelter, and a clean and healthy environment in which to live. UNEP hosts the Secretariat of the Convention.
UNEP also works closely with, and hosts the Secretariats of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Inter-governmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
Environmental governance
UNEP and partners are promoting sound environmental governance, for example, by helping with the development of National Biodiversity Strategic Action Plans.
Knowledge platforms
UNEP’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre is a global leader in biodiversity knowledge. It works with scientists and policymakers worldwide to place biodiversity at the heart of the environment and development decision-making to enable enlightened choices for people and the planet.
UNEP’s World Environment Situation Room is a dynamic knowledge platform designed to collect, process and share the world's best environmental science and research, as well as the mass of new data from satellites, drones and citizen science. The platform includes critical tools to review progress towards the achievement of the Goals.
UNEP also supports knowledge platforms on ecosystems and biodiversity, such as the Great Apes Survival Partnership, Global Forest Watch, the Global Peatlands Initiative and the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative.
UNEP’s Wild for Life communications campaign focuses on the illegal trade in wildlife.
Related links:
- UNEP-International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UNEP-IEMP)
- Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration
- The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity
- Ecosystem-based adaptation briefing notes
- The UN-REDD Programme
- Facts about the Nature Crisis
Further resources:
