The IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) has just released the largest and most comprehensive attempt to assess the state of our living planet.
The findings of the IPBES global assessment show us that climate breakdown is already affecting nature in many parts of the world and causing biodiversity loss. Our planet is warming, our sea levels are rising, our countries are being hit by devastating cyclones. We are on the precipice of seeing the eradication of nearly 40% of insect species.
The report follows from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) October 8, 2018, released a special report on keeping warming below 1.5°C. It was a wake-up call to the world that the window for avoiding runaway climate change is closing — fast.
To have any chance of staying under 1.5°C of warming, no new fossil fuel project can be allowed to go ahead. The second month into 2019 was already breaking records with weather forecasters are struggling to explain the new normal of extreme weather patterns in the US, UK, Australia and elsewhere
We are facing a human extinction crisis. The IPBES global assessment is another stark reminder that the time to act is now, we must work together to pushback against the fossil fuel industry fuelling the climate crisis and for long lasting and meaningful change.
Time is tight but working together across the globe, we can do it. As 1.6 million school strikers on the streets in March have shown, rising to such a major emergency unleashes a powerful sense of common purpose. Right now our collective futures depends on us being able to seize this moment and work together. The way we farm, use our soils, protect coastal ecosystems and treat our forests will make or break our future but it can also help us eat better, live longer and have more choice.
There is no single solution to this crisis. But in the next two years we have a unique opportunity to jump start the solutions together and make collective choices about how we feed ourselves, protect nature and avoid climate chaos.
350.org like the school strikers, Extinction Rebellion and our many other partners, organisations and supporters across the globe are ramping up action on climate change. Over the coming months across the globe, there will be strikes, walkouts, demonstrations, events and action camps. Sign up to find out more about the latest developments, get involved with 350.org to keep the pressure on.