COP17: Achieving the goals requires swift action
Last week, 196 countries agreed at the COP17 conference in Yerevan that they must accelerate efforts to halt biodiversity loss by 2030. A delegation of researchers from the Department of Geography and the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies were on site to demonstrate how science can help achieve this goal – and thus turn biodiversity knowledge into action.
The signatory states to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF) have only four years left to achieve their agreed-upon goal: to halt and reverse the decline in biodiversity. The measures taken so far are insufficient, as shown by the report on biodiversity adopted at the conference.
“Countries agree that action to halt and revert biodiversity loss and meeting biodiversity goals and targets are needed and faster than to date”, says Earth System Science professor Maria J. Santos, who participated in two panels during the conference. However, according to Santos, there is a lack of funding and strong political will needed for swift action.
COP17
The UN Conferences of the Parties (COP) aim to shape global strategies and actions of the whole of society for biodiversity conservation. These conferences bring together representatives from governments, local and indigenous communities, civil society, the science and research community, and the business sector from around the world. Four years ago, 196 countries adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF), a global biodiversity strategy comprising 23 concrete targets to be reached by 2030. At COP17, an initial assessment was presented, which noted that countries are not on track to achieve the targets. In particular, countries must provide more funding and improve the implementation and monitoring of measures.
Santos was part of the UZH delegation who presented scientific findings and analyses at the approximately two-week-long conference, which served as the basis for the negotiations. “We have two more years to the new reporting cycle and hope that we can now start to get aligned with meeting targets”, says Santos.
Genes from Space
Among other things, biodiversity reporting needs to be strengthened, explains Oliver Selmoni, who heads a research group on Climate Change Genomics at UZH. “With the 2030 targets in sight, tracking progress becomes crucial and requires strengthening countries' monitoring capacity.” Selmoni represented the “Genes from Space” initiative in Yerevan together with Claudia Röösli, group leader of the Earth Observation Application and Services and Meredith Schuman, professor of Spatial Genetics of Ecosystems, at UZH.
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UZH delegation members in front of the Data to Action pavilion. From left to right: Dr. Fernando Martin Gonçalvez, Dr. Claudia Röösli, Dr. Oliver Selmoni, Dr. Sierra Deutsch, Prof. Maria J. Santos, Prof. Meredith C. Schuman, Dr. Maura Ganz. Missing: Prof. Kentaro Shimizu -
The Genes from Space team presenting new tools to support genetic diversity monitoring. -
Kentaro Shimizu discussing how crop landraces can support sustainable agriculture. -
Fernando Gonçalves presenting how natural hazards can accelerate species extinction risks. -
Maria J. Santos discussing the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) nexus assessment. -
Sierra Deutsch inviting reflections on how power shapes realities and decision-making, using ‘nature’ definitions as one example.
Supporting capacity-building in genetic diversity monitoring is the central goal of this initiative, which is led by researchers at UZH. To this end, they are developing tools that make satellite Earth observation readily available for genetic diversity monitoring.
A central GBF target (Target A) includes preserving wild species' genetic diversity, the foundation of biodiversity—yet only a few countries have reported on it to date. Collecting suitable supporting data via satellite can fill crucial gaps in data from the field, facilitating reporting and monitoring of this target.
New perspectives on biodiversity
The same challenge extends to domesticated species, where genetic diversity underpins food security. Kentaro Shimizu, professor for Plant Bioloogy at UZH, showed that underexplored crop landraces hold valuable traits, such as disease resistance and drought tolerance. These are resources to strengthen resilient, sustainable agriculture while reducing pesticide use.
Postdoctoral researcher Maura Ganz presented a different approach to monitoring biodiversity. She demonstrated how low-cost acoustic sensors can expand biodiversity monitoring across space and time, lowering the financial and logistical barriers to data collection.
Fernando Gonçalves brought into focus natural hazards such as hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis. Showing which parts of the world are most at risk, and how these hazards can push vulnerable species closer to extinction. He also looked ahead, asking how these risks may grow as climate change makes some hazards, such as hurricanes, more frequent and more severe. His goal is to make this information easier to find and use, so that decision-makers can protect the right species in the right places, in time, and help meet the KM-GBF targets.
Living data for equity and action
Collecting data is just one of the challenges discussed at COP17. Equally important is what data is actually taken into account and where it comes from. “Data is never neutral”, says Santos “who collects it, how it is collected and verified, who can access it, and how it is used shape whose interests get protected.”
«Data to Action»
Under the theme “Connecting Science and Knowledge Systems for Biodiversity,” the University of Zurich is among the organizers of the “Data to Action” pavilion. “The pavilion was a dedicated exhibition, meeting, and discussion space at COP17” says Schuman, who coordinated the pavilion organisation for UZH. “The events hosted focused on how to leverage biodiversity data from diverse knowledge systems to support monitoring and conservation actions related to the KM-GBF.” This is an example of how UZH aims to turn biodiversity knowledge into action and change.
With more than 80 events over two weeks, the pavilion brought together organizations working across the biodiversity knowledge ecosystem. The pavilion was co-convened by the University of Zurich, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), The Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON), The Group on Earth Observation (GEO), and the Smithsonian Institution, in collaboration with partners and sponsors: the Allen Institute for AI (AI2), Esri, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science (QCBS), and made possible through the generous contribution of the NOMIS Foundation.
Contributions from the UZH delegation highlighted the role of power in biodiversity loss and conservation, and emphasized to ensure the global biodiversity monitoring system serves all communities equitably – one of the big topics of discussions at the COP17.
Sierra Deutsch, an interdisciplinary political ecologist and group leader at UZH, researches how power dynamics shape decision-making by exploring whose definitions of ‘nature’ are captured in policy – and whose are excluded. At a workshop in the “Data to Action” Pavilion (see box) she introduced methods for weaving indigenous, practitioner, and academic knowledge systems in parity.
“The COP17 was an incredibly dynamic international and transdisciplinary space that provided some key insights into the science-practice-policy interface”, says Deutsch. “This includes how and why science gets taken up – or left behind – in policy.”