A new 2010 BIP paper published in leading journal Science provides proof that world leaders have failed to deliver commitments made in 2002 to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss. Instead they have overseen alarming biodiversity declines.
The finding in the 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership paper represent the first assessment of how targets made through the 2002 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have not been met. Over 30 biodiversity indicators were compiled, including changes in species’ populations and risk of extinction, habitat extent and community composition, and there was found no evidence for a significant reduction in the rate of decline of biodiversity. On the other hand they found the pressures facing biodiversity continue to increase. The synthesis provides overwhelming and sobering evidence that the 2010 target has not been achieved. (Source: press release 2010BIP — UNEP — WCMC, 29.04.2010)