News2 min(s) read
Published 10:01 18 Sep 2020 GMT
In a period of 10 years, the world has collectively failed to meet every single target put in place to save our planet, according to a report from the UN.
These aims formed part of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and were determined at the 2010 meeting of leaders from 196 countries in Japan, per CNN.
The report, which was published on Tuesday, serves as an eye-opening reminder that the existence of certain endangered species is rapidly declining.
"Humanity stands at a crossroads with regard to the legacy it leaves to future generations," the report reads. "Biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, and the pressures driving this decline are intensifying."
Driving the decline of these species are "unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, population growth and technological developments," the report adds.
The intensity of the situation was further highlighted by Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, executive secretary of the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity, in a press release.
"The rate of biodiversity loss is unprecedented in human history and pressures are intensifying," she said.
She continued: "Earth's living systems as a whole are being compromised. And the more humanity exploits nature in unsustainable ways and undermines its contributions to people, the more we undermine our own wellbeing, security and prosperity."
It should be noted, however, that although we have failed to fully meet the 20 targets set in 2010, there has indeed been some progress.
The report explains that six out of the 20 targets have been "partially achieved".
These include: setting up programmes to eradicate invasive alien species, the conservation of protected areas, access to and sharing benefits from genetic resources, biodiversity strategies and action plans, sharing information, and mobilizing financial resources.
Furthermore, the report also stresses that global deforestation rates have fallen by approximately a third in the last few years.
The other 14 goals have sadly not been achieved. Some of these include integrating biodiversity values into national and local development and poverty reduction strategies, eliminating subsidies harmful to biodiversity and for governments around the world to implement plans for sustainable production and consumption.
Failure to meet these goals has led to continued habitat loss, pollution, plastic-infested oceans and dying coral reefs.
Fortunately, the report also states that if we take drastic action henceforth it is not "too late" to "halt and eventually reverse current trends in the decline of biodiversity."
