GEMUN 2015
ENVIRONMENT COMMISSION
Topic 1
REDUCING THE LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY
REPORT RESEARCH
By Louis Leroy Ducardonnoy
INDEX:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
I.
Definition of key terms : page
Introduction : page
Background:
Measures and Projects: page
Work cited and further reading: page
Definition of Key Terms
Loss: failure to keep or to continue to have something
Biodiversity:
1. The number and variety of species found within a specified geographic region.
2. The variability among living organisms on the earth, including the variability within and
between species and within and between ecosystems.
Extinction: A species is extinct when the last existing member dies. Extinction therefore becomes a
certainty when there are no surviving individuals that can reproduce and create a new generation
Climate change: is a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns when that change lasts
for an extended period of time (i.e., decades to millions of years).
Pollution:
1. The act or process of polluting or the state of being polluted, especially the contamination of
soil, water, or the atmosphere by the discharge of harmful substances.
2. Something that pollutes; a pollutant or a group of pollutants:
Deforestation: the action or process of clearing of forests.
Poaching: To take fish or game illegally, especially by trespassing on another's property
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Destructive Fishing Practices: The narrowest definition of destructive fishing practices refers
principally to bottom trawling over vulnerable habitat (shallow corals, deep sea corals, or sea grass, for
example). So trawling waters indiscriminately and with no attention to young fish or endangered
species.
Negative Externality: A negative externality occurs when an individual or firm making a decision
does not have to pay the full cost of the decision. If certain goods have a negative externality, then the
cost to society is greater than the cost the consumer is paying for it. Since consumers make a decision
based on where their marginal cost equals their marginal benefit, and since they don't take into account
the cost of the negative externality, negative externalities result in market inefficiencies unless proper
action is taken.
Sustainable Development: Sustainable development has been defined in many ways, but the most
frequently quoted definition is from Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report:
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. It contains within it two key concepts:


The concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding
priority should be given; and
The idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the
environment's ability to meet present and future needs.
Sustainable Energies: The “provision of energy such as it meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable Energy has two
key components: renewable energy and energy efficiency” – Renewable Energy and Efficiency
Partnership
Environmental Dumping: Environmental dumping is the practice of trans-frontier shipment of waste
(household waste, industrial/nuclear waste, etc.) from one country to another. The goal is to take the
waste to a country that has less strict environmental laws, or environmental laws that are not strictly
enforced. The economic benefit of this practice is cheap disposal or recycling of waste without the
economic regulations of the original country.
Ocean Dumping: Ocean Dumping is an illegal practice that consists on using the oceans as ones
garbage can. Ocean dumping can lead to eutrophication which depletes the oxygen from the water
killing marine life
Eutrophication: Eutrophication arises from the oversupply of nutrients, which induces explosive
growth of plants and algae which, when such organisms die, consume the oxygen in the body of water,
thereby creating the state of hypoxia (low oxygen conditions).
II.
Introduction
The loss of Biodiversity is mainly caused by Man’s economical activities which require natural
resources. Such activities cause deforestation, pollution, illegal dumping etc. As explained in the UN’s
3rd Global Biodiversity Outlook, the rate of biodiversity loss has not been reduced because the 5
principle pressures on biodiversity are persistent, even intensifying:
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Habitat loss and degradation
Climate change
Excessive nutrient load and other forms of pollution
Over-exploitation and unsustainable use
Invasive alien species
Most governments report to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity that these pressures are
affecting biodiversity in their country.
These negative externalities result in global warming which increases global temperatures by 0.5°C
per year.
Natural habitats are therefore changed or lost. Furthermore, because of natural selection many species,
which cannot withstand humanity’s obsessive desire to be more productive (“environmental
dumping”), simply fall into extinction with general indifference from the public.
III.
Background
Loss of Biodiversity is as old as the world itself. Indeed, since the dawn of time our world has
known huge climactic changes in order to become what it is today.
“Modern loss of Biodiversity” can be traced back to the 17th century (round about the start of
the start of “globalisation”). The most significant example is of the Dodo’s extinction on the island of
Mauritius.
Svante Arrhenius (1859-1927) was a Swedish scientist that was the first to claim in 1856 that
fossil fuel combustion may eventually result in enhanced global warming.
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He proposed a relation between atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and temperature.
He found that the average surface temperature of the earth is about 15oC because of the infrared
absorption capacity of water vapor and carbon dioxide.
This is called the natural greenhouse effect. Arrhenius suggested a doubling of the CO2
concentration would lead to a 5oC temperature rise.
He and Thomas Chamberlin calculated that human activities could warm the earth by adding
carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. This research was a by-product of research of whether carbon
dioxide would explain the causes of the great Ice Ages. This was not actually verified until 1987.
After the discoveries of Arrhenius and Chamberlin the topic was forgotten for a very long
time. At that time it was thought than human influences were insignificant compared to natural forces,
such as solar activity and ocean circulation.
It was also believed that the oceans were such great carbon sinks that they would
automatically cancel out our pollution. Water vapor was seen as a much more influential greenhouse
gas.
IV.
Measures and Projects
There are several important ways in which humans can slow biodiversity loss, although there is no
way to bring back the species that have already gone extinct:
Protecting Areas
Creating protected areas where human activity is limited is the best way to prevent deforestation
and exploitation of organisms and the resources they need to survive. In order to truly make a
difference, much planning needs to go into the creation of a protected area. It needs to consider all
elements of the ecosystem it is trying to protect, so that it isn’t too small. It needs to include all
resources that are utilized by its inhabitants; for example, leaving out a stream where half of the
mammals go to drink would not make a protected area very effective.
Preventing Species Introductions
It is often much easier and less expensive to prevent a problem from developing in the first place
than to try to fix it once it occurs. This is the case with invasive species, which can wreak havoc
when introduced to ecosystems that aren’t prepared to deal with them. Many governments prohibit
bringing foreign plants and animals into their countries without authorization; some even go so far
as to disinfect landing planes and the shoe-bottoms of people on them.
Informing / Educating
Education is a powerful tool, and the more people know about biodiversity loss, the more they will
be prepared to help slow it. Spreading the word about detrimental human effects on plants and
animals can encourage people to change their ways and effect changes to preserve biodiversity.
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Slowing Climate Change
Climate change is the documented cause of several extinctions that we know about, and has likely
caused hundreds of species to go extinct about which we may never know. Any efforts as
individuals, organizations, or governments, to slow current human-caused global warming is a
step towards slowing biodiversity loss.
Promoting Sustainability
Sustainable agriculture is much better for the environment than grazing and cropping that rely on
clearing swathes of forest or field.
Cloning
Some Scientists believe that Modern technology can help “revive” species, such as stated in “V.2
Cloning paragraph”.
V.
Work cited and further reading
1. http://www.globalissues.org/article/171/loss-of-biodiversity-and-extinctions
- MassiveExtinctionsFromHumanActivity
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction
3. http://www.greenfacts.org/en/biodiversity/l-3/6-conserve-biodiversity.htm
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Decade_on_Biodiversity
5. http://www.unep.org/NEWSCENTRE/default.aspx?DocumentId=2718&ArticleId=9552
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