COP27 Biodiversity Day

Biodiversity day at COP deals with nature and ecosystem-based solutions. It centres around discussions on the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and the means to mobilize global actions towards the challenges to halt biodiversity loss and reduce the impacts of climate change and pollution. The fact that humans have a direct influence on the climate system is undeniable, as has been proved throughout the IPCC reports. The 6th assessment report gathered impactful conclusions.

Humans, unlike all other living beings, are aware of their own intelligence, making them capable of using their knowledge to more efficiently use the resources to survive and, eventually, making life more comfortable. Human-centred development enters into conflict with nature when the rate of consumption of resources and its consequent alteration of the environment is higher than what nature itself can regenerate. In order to find the point of equilibrium, one of the key solutions is to seek energy sources that do the least harm to the environment and its biodiversity.

The main drivers of biodiversity extinction are habitat degradation and loss (agriculture expansion, ground artificialisation and GHG emissions). Focusing on low-emission energy sources is one piece of the big problem.?

The world’s forests are central to keeping climate change in check as they absorb a third of all carbon dioxide emissions. However, logging, land degradation and desertification threaten forests worldwide, which in turn results in additional desertification, degradation and biodiversity loss. Forests can also be threatened by coal and other rare minerals mining for energy production.

Ocean acidification caused by fossil fuels has detrimental impacts on marine life and poses an especially big threat to coral reefs around the world. Coral reefs are the nurseries of the oceans, and more than 25% of all marine life depends on them, despite occupying less than 1% of the ocean floor. It is estimated that they provide food to hundreds of millions of people, and supply resources and services (including jobs, food, and protection from storms and erosion) worth more than $375 billion every year. Protecting both life on land and sea is crucial to addressing the climate crisis and avoiding irreversible damage to the planet and our interaction with it.

In comparison to other low-carbon energy sources, nuclear power requires the smallest amount of land per unit of energy produced, leaving more undisturbed land for natural habitats. It can also play a major role in reducing ocean acidification and thus protect the immense biodiversity of the oceans, thanks both to its low-carbon credentials and the fact that it does not cause chemical emissions that pollute waterways – unlike many other energy sources.

Nuclear and isotopic techniques can also help understand aquatic ecosystems, assess pollution and verify the effectiveness of clean-up and remediation techniques. These techniques can also be used to evaluate past changes in ocean acidity, as well as the ocean’s capacity to store carbon and the potential impact this will have on the climate in the future.

On land, nuclear techniques can be used to assess soil quality and study how crops take up nutrients. This helps in the development of more efficient soil management and crop production methods.

Experts can also track and stop contaminants from harming the environment, by using nuclear science to identify certain isotopes in different contaminants to measure their concentration and trace their source.

To attain a truly sustainable future, decision-makers should carefully consider the energy sources to support, and identify the energy mix that has the least impact on biodiversity. Nuclear energy is a good option concerning biodiversity preservation, offering a low-risk path to eliminate fossil-fuel dependency, all considering renewable sources in order to build a robust decarbonized energy mix.