1 Introduction
The United Nations set 17 Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 as a blueprint to
achieve a more sustainable future for all people (Agenda 2030). In comparison with
Agenda 21, the goals are more specified, but without course-correction in relation to
actual global trajectories and realities. Thus, the broad and inconsistent spectrum of
169 partly competing targets mirrors the present political and economic power bases,
rather than health and environmental conditions of a prospective future. This Agenda
does not fully consider biodiversity conservation and ecosystems to the same degree
it considers economic targets and growth. As a result, biodiversity is respected in a
purely utilitarian manner.
Recently, various comprehensive reports on water and land use and/or climate
change have been published. These include the IPBES Global Assessment on
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (2019) and the Special Report of the IPCC
on Climate Change, Desertification, Land Degradation, Sustainable Land Management, Food Security, and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Terrestrial Ecosystems (2019).
These publications represent the current knowledge in climatology accompanied by
other scientific disciplines that outline the implications of climate change and land
use for human wellbeing and biodiversity. The Global Risks Report (2019) assesses
the potential interplay, impact and likelihood of economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal and technological categories with respect to potential payments of
assurance companies.
However, regardless of many comprising reports and agendas the IUCN recommends the development of a more ambitious global Biodiversity Agenda.
There is encouraging global consensus on the need for better stewardship of the
natural environment, which can be used as a platform for more tangible successes in
practical conservation, and to stem biodiversity erosion. We here focus on direct
threats to and the survival of biodiversity, and the importance of ecosystem and
habitat types for nature conservation programmes and measures. Thus, we elaborate
on many current debates in media and science regarding the future of the environment (‘science for future’).
We work on the assumption that anthropogenic threats to natural landscapes and
the environment have a greater impact on ecosystems and their species assemblages
than natural processes and catastrophes—as all species have evolved to natural
environmental conditions including dynamics. Land use change, the intensification
of various economic sectors, including fishery, agriculture, aquaculture and forestry,
rapid urbanisation, proliferation of chemical substances and their use, have the
strongest impact on biodiversity and ecosystems. Invasive and other problematic
species, genes, pathogens, climate change, severe weather and other factors are
additional stressors.
The analysis of the past is important for the understanding of recent conditions
and processes. The identification of current challenges can help to estimate what
could be feasible in the future. However, this does not mean that we try to use the
picture of the past as a template for the future. The future will be different from the
454
C. Hobohm et al.
The United Nations set 17 Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 as a blueprint to
achieve a more sustainable future for all people (Agenda 2030). In comparison with
Agenda 21, the goals are more specified, but without course-correction in relation to
actual global trajectories and realities. Thus, the broad and inconsistent spectrum of
169 partly competing targets mirrors the present political and economic power bases,
rather than health and environmental conditions of a prospective future. This Agenda
does not fully consider biodiversity conservation and ecosystems to the same degree
it considers economic targets and growth. As a result, biodiversity is respected in a
purely utilitarian manner.
Recently, various comprehensive reports on water and land use and/or climate
change have been published. These include the IPBES Global Assessment on
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (2019) and the Special Report of the IPCC
on Climate Change, Desertification, Land Degradation, Sustainable Land Management, Food Security, and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Terrestrial Ecosystems (2019).
These publications represent the current knowledge in climatology accompanied by
other scientific disciplines that outline the implications of climate change and land
use for human wellbeing and biodiversity. The Global Risks Report (2019) assesses
the potential interplay, impact and likelihood of economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal and technological categories with respect to potential payments of
assurance companies.
However, regardless of many comprising reports and agendas the IUCN recommends the development of a more ambitious global Biodiversity Agenda.
There is encouraging global consensus on the need for better stewardship of the
natural environment, which can be used as a platform for more tangible successes in
practical conservation, and to stem biodiversity erosion. We here focus on direct
threats to and the survival of biodiversity, and the importance of ecosystem and
habitat types for nature conservation programmes and measures. Thus, we elaborate
on many current debates in media and science regarding the future of the environment (‘science for future’).
We work on the assumption that anthropogenic threats to natural landscapes and
the environment have a greater impact on ecosystems and their species assemblages
than natural processes and catastrophes—as all species have evolved to natural
environmental conditions including dynamics. Land use change, the intensification
of various economic sectors, including fishery, agriculture, aquaculture and forestry,
rapid urbanisation, proliferation of chemical substances and their use, have the
strongest impact on biodiversity and ecosystems. Invasive and other problematic
species, genes, pathogens, climate change, severe weather and other factors are
additional stressors.
The analysis of the past is important for the understanding of recent conditions
and processes. The identification of current challenges can help to estimate what
could be feasible in the future. However, this does not mean that we try to use the
picture of the past as a template for the future. The future will be different from the
454
C. Hobohm et al.