In 2001, a number of U.S. scientists, including the renowned Harvard biologist, Edward O. Wilson wrote a letter to President George W Bush pleading with him to “reduce” the U.S. production of greenhouse gases. Wilson is obviously concerned about climate change but he considers that the “quenching of life’s exuberance will be more consequential to humanity than all present day warming, ozone depletion and pollution combined.”
A decade earlier, Professor Wilson wrote the book, The Diversity of Life. In it he estimated that 27,000 species are being lost each year. He warned that the extinction of species will soar as the last remaining areas of tropical forests are exploited and destroyed. The best current estimate is that we are now losing 40,000 species each year and that this will increase dramatically as climate change begins to impact on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. People might respond by saying that isn’t extinction part of the history of life on the planet? Didn’t the dinosaurs become extinct at the end of the Mesozoic period (Middle Life) over 60 million years ago? And even since then plants and animals have become extinct on a regular basis. The difficulty and tragedy today is that extinction is now occurring at between 1,000 and 10,000 times the background extinction rate during the past 60 million years.Concern about the mass destruction of species, at both national and international levels, began to surface in the 1980s. In response, the United Nations Environment Programme set up a working group to design international laws and conventions to protect biodiversity. At the Earth Summit which was held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to 14 1992, 150 countries signed the U.N. Convention on Biodiversity (CBD). The CBD is an international legally-binding treaty which covers biodiversity at all levels, ecosystems, species and genetic resources. It has three principle goals. First and foremost, it is designed to conserve biodiversity and stop extinction.
Secondly, it encourages the sustainable use of biodiversity at national and international levels. Finally, it promotes a fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. This objective has been a bone of contention between rich and poor countries since 1992. Much of the genetic riches of the world are found in countries in the tropics which often are economically poor. In the past, corporations from rich nations have often taken genetic resources and knowledge from poor countries without authorization or any plan to share the enormous economic benefits with the communities where the genetic resources were found. Under pressure no doubt from its biotech corporations, the United States has refused to sign the CBD.
An important function of the Secretariat is to organise a meeting of the parties who have signed the treaty every two years in order to review progress, set out priorities and challenge government to stick to commitments which are made at these meetings.